Shadow Stargate Redone
by Quatre Winner
Summary: When Daniel Jackson needs help translating some tablets, he calls in some strange help. Namely, one young Dr. Yugi Mutou. Dr. Mutou has secrets of his own, however, secrets which could hold the key to defeating Anubis once and for all. On hiatus.
1. Chapter One: An Introduction Of Sorts

Quatre: I've been working hard on LFHR, don't worry minna-san. This is just a shameless distraction until I manage to get LFHR redone to my satisfaction. I'm not changing the entire plot of LFHR like I did here. No, it's just being tweaked. Until then, enjoy this!

Shadow Stargate Redone

Warnings: AU for YGO after Battle City; AU for Stargate somewhere in that space of time between Daniel becoming un-Ascended and season eight. This WILL be shonen-ai, folks. Now, for a little bit of education: Yaoi= all of the explicit stuff that happens behind closed doors between guys that not many people like to know about. Shonen-ai= all of the romance stuff between guys. So, there will be NO sex in this fic. Maybe in a sidefic, but that's a different story. Pun kind of intended.

Pairings: Yami/Yugi

Many thanks to JK Fie'r for beta-ing this fic and being a never-ending stream of encouragement and sometimes having to prod me to write this. #glomps JK# Arigatou!!!!!!!!

**Chapter One: An Introduction Of Sorts**

Typing filled the room, punctuated by an occasional mutter or rustle of paper. Bleary brown eyes peered from under a comforter at the lone figure sitting at the computer.

"Yugi? What are you doing?"

"Nothing, Ryou. Go back to sleep."

"I can't, not with you typing."

The typing paused, and there was a jaw-cracking yawn.

"I'm sorry Ryou, but I have to finish this up before tomorrow."

Ryou sighed and pushed off the covers. "What are you doing?" he asked, padding over to the computer. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the screen.

"It's my dissertation," Yugi yawned.

"Dissertation?" Ryou repeated. "But you're only seventeen years old!"

"And you're a year older," Yugi replied easily.

"How exactly are you going for a doctorate? And for what?"

"Grandpa pulled some strings and convinced a college to let me take online courses. I tested out of most of them-"another yawn "- and the college decided to let me try for a doctorate."

Ryou blinked. "But what are you writing about?"

Yugi scrolled up to the top of the document.

"Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt," Ryou read.

"Yeah. Yami's been helping me a lot. But this is mainly my research and my writing," Yugi said proudly. "If I pass, I'll have a doctorate on Ancient Egyptian culture and language!"

"We've got the language part down pat," Ryou noted, shooting a pointed glance down at Yugi's puzzle.

Yugi grinned. "Listen, I really need to get this done. I still have a lot of work to do."

Ryou nodded. "I understand. I'm sure Bakura wouldn't mind us sleeping on the couch for one night. After all, you're letting us stay here since dad is in Egypt."

Yugi smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Ryou."

"No problem."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Jack O'Neill stepped through the wavering pool of light and blinked. The lights of the SGC contrasted greatly to the dim caverns of P4X-885 and he was momentarily blinded.

"Report, Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond's voice sounded. Jack peered at the window hiding his commanding officer.

"Wha-oh. Daniel found some tablets that look like they're written in Ancient Egyptian. We're bringing him back so he could translate them. He thinks they refer to some weapon that can defeat the Goa'uld."

"I see. You'll have a full debriefing in one hour."

Jack gave a tired salute and trudged down the ramp towards the locker room.

An hour later all of SG-1 was gathered in the briefing room in the SGC.

"So, Dr. Jackson, what makes you think these tablets will help us defeat the Goa'uld?"

Jackson scratched his head. "Actually, sir, I have no idea."

Everyone sweatdropped.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked finally.

"Well, the tablets mentioned 'power of the gods' so I figured they would be helpful. However, there's so much on the tablets that it'll take me a while to translate them, a while we don't have," Jackson replied. "As much as I hate to admit it, I need help."

Everyone stared incredulously at him. "What?!"

"I guess we put out an internet ad," Hammond said tiredly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Yugi eagerly checked his email. Internet ad, internet ad, congratulations letter, enlarge your penis in ten easy steps, congrats, submit your dissertation today – too late -, I have a translating job for you?

Yugi perked up. Deleting all of his junk mail, he opened the letter.

"Dear Dr. Mutou,

"We require your assistance. We have found some intriguing Egyptian tablets and need help translating them. Your school transcript and dissertation are all the proof of your qualifications we need. If you are interested, please respond at once.

"Signed,

"Dr. Daniel Jackson."

Yugi giggled. Dr. Jackson was an insane nut who just happened to be right about the pyramids. Yami had told him about how the Pyramids were built before his time, not during. Way before. As in thousands of years. Unfortunately, Yami didn't know who had built the pyramids.

/Should we help him?/ he asked Yami.

/I don't see why we shouldn't,/ Yami replied. /It could be interesting./

Yugi grinned. /Cool!/

He clicked reply.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Dear Dr. Jackson,

"I'd be more than happy to help you with the tablets. We must discuss, however, what this service will cost. I'd do it for free, but I'm afraid I need all the money I can get.

"Please send this and the location of these tablets so we can get to work on them as soon as possible.

"Sincerely,

"Dr. Mutou."

Daniel looked up from the computer. "He accepted," he told Jack.

Jack grinned. "That's good. Email him the information he wants."

"Do I tell him about the Stargate?"

"No, he doesn't need to know."

Daniel nodded and typed his reply.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Dear Dr. Mutou,

"Funds will be provided for your trip. All traveling arrangements will be taken care of. You need only pick up your plane ticket at the international airport by noon on the twentieth of May.

"I will meet you upon your arrival. We can discuss payment on the way to where the tablets are being kept.

"I've attached a picture so you know what I look like.

"I look forward to meeting you in person.

"Sincerely,

"Dr. Jackson."

Yugi studied the attached picture.

"Grandpa's already explained to the school as to why I'll be absent," Yugi muttered to no one in particular. He chuckled. "It's strange to think that I'm still in school, even with a doctorate!"

Yami appeared next to him. "It is interesting to hear the teachers call you 'Dr.' There are no other Dr.'s at the school, teaching or otherwise."

Yugi grinned. "Jonouchi was stunned when he first heard. Remember?"

Yami chuckled. "It is rather hard to forget."

Yugi leaned back in his chair. "What's the date today?"

Yami blinked. "You don't know?"

Yugi shook his head.

Yami looked around and spotted a calendar. "It's… the eighteenth."

Yugi shot up. "I've only got two days to pack!"

He raced out of the room. Yami shook his head and followed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Quatre: Well…. It's a start. Hell, I may put up chapter two while I'm here. I've gotten a lot of this written, actually, but I'm rather loathe to post it until I know that I don't have to go back and change anything. So…. is this better than the original Shadow Stargate?

Read and review no da!!!


	2. Chapter Two: Raised Eyebrows Are Not Jus...

Quatre: Okay, I decided to post chapter two now. Warnings are the same as before.

Disclaimer: I only own Ame, when he finally shows up. If I did own either show, I'd have crossed them a long time ago.

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**Chapter Two: Raised Eyebrows Are Not Just For Vulcans**

-.-.-.-.-.-.

Daniel stood around the door that all the arrivals continually poured from. He was awaiting the arrival of Dr. Mutou, and he couldn't keep himself from pacing. He'd begun translating the tablets, and even he, who had spoken the language aloud for a year, had a hard time deciphering the hieroglyphs. He wasn't sure whether Dr. Mutou would be able to help him.

He watched a Japanese teen with spiky tricolored hair walk out, scrutinizing the paper in his hand. The kid laughed to himself before looking up and locking eyes with Daniel.

"Are you Dr. Jackson?" he asked, walking over and setting his carryon on the ground.

"Yes. And you are?"

"Dr. Yugi Mutou," the teen introduced, bowing slightly. He straightened and extended a hand, a warm smile on his face. "Pleased to meet you!"

Daniel couldn't help but stare.

"What?" Yugi asked curiously.

"You can't be older than seventeen!"

Yugi's smile turned sheepish. "I am seventeen. What's the problem?"

"How did you manage to get a doctorate?"

"Long story." Yugi picked up his bag and slung it over one shoulder. "Well, shall we? You're the only one who knows where we're going."

Daniel shook his head, bemused, and led the young doctor out of the airport.

Yugi gazed at the countryside as it sped by, fascinated. "America has so much space!"

Daniel grinned. "I hear Japan has a lot of people."

Yugi snorted. "That's an understatement."

Yugi went back to gazing out the window. He and Daniel had already settled on a price. Now the only thing he could do was wait.

Daniel grew tired of the silence. "I see you didn't bring many books with you," he said by way of conversation.

"I don't need them," Yugi said simply.

Daniel raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?"

"Let's just say I've got a dictionary in my head."

/Is that all I am? A dictionary?/

Yugi scowled to himself. /I can't very well tell him about you directly, now can I?/

"That is fascinating. Even I need a reference book sometimes."

Yugi didn't reply to this. Bored, he reached into his bag and pulled out a golden box covered with hieroglyphs. He reached in and extracted his deck of Duel Monsters cards from the unorganized jumble of cards.

Daniel perked up. "What's that?"

"What's what? The box or the cards?"

"Both."

"The box is an heirloom of sorts," Yugi explained. He pointed to the Puzzle dangling around his neck. "This was a puzzle inside it. It took me eight years to solve."

"Why do you wear a priceless antique around your neck?"

Yugi shrugged. "It makes me feel closer to the past, I suppose."

"Hasn't anyone tried to take it?"

Yugi smiled mirthlessly. "Let's just say they failed and leave it at that."

This response only piqued Daniel's interest more.

"And the cards?" he asked finally.

"They're the most popular game in the world, Duel Monsters," Yugi replied. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of them."

"Let's just say I don't get out much."

Yugi raised a curious eyebrow before continuing. "I'm the best player in the world, too," he said matter-of-factly.

"Really?"

Yugi nodded. "Maybe you'll get to see me duel sometime."

They lapsed into silence for the remainder of the journey. Yugi pretended he was asleep. In reality he'd retreated to his soul room to duel with Yami.

-.-.-.-.

Daniel looked over at the sleeping doctor. It was hard to believe that a child had achieved that status, but here was the proof before his eyes.

He shook his head, bemused.

"So what do you think of him?" he asked the driver.

Jack shrugged. "He's just a kid. I doubt he can do anything without books – I know I can't – but we can give him a chance. I mean, he's a freakin' PhD."

Daniel grinned. "I hope he can do what he claims. I really need help."

"Don't worry, Danny-boy. I'm sure everything will work out just fine."

Daniel looked at the next sign. "How much longer?"

"An hour, maybe two. I'd recommend some sleep. You look like you need it."

"Sounds good to me," Daniel sighed, leaning back and closing his eyes.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"In here."

Yugi followed Daniel into the small office and looked around. It was…cluttered. Eight stone tablets were scattered among various books, and several chalkboards were filled with hieroglyphs.

"It seems comfortable," he remarked, setting his bag on the ground and leaning down to peer at the nearest tablet.

"Make yourself at home, we'll be in here a lot," Daniel said. "First, though, let me show you around. You'll have one of the guest quarters. Meals are at eight, noon, and six."

Yugi let Daniel guide him around the military base. "What interest does the military have in a bunch of old tablets?" he asked curiously as Daniel showed him to the cafeteria.

Daniel gave a small, nostalgic smile. "I remember asking my guide the exact same thing when I first came here."

"Well?"

"Sorry, it's classified."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "They're paranoid if they think Egyptian tablets can hurt them."

Daniel chuckled. "You'd be surprised."

"Where are we going next?" Yugi asked as they left the cafeteria and headed for the elevator.

"First you'll see your room, then I'll take you to meet General Hammond. It'll be funny to see his reaction to you."

Yugi raised an eyebrow.

"He's expecting someone as old as I am," Daniel clarified.

Yugi giggled. "Sorry. You're not old!"

/Not as old as some people I know, anyway,/ he added mentally, sending a smirk to Yami.

Yami mock glared. /I've taught you too well./

Yugi giggled again.

"What's so funny?" Daniel asked curiously.

"Nothing. Just remembering a friends' joke."

Daniel showed him how the elevator worked. He was explaining levels that were off-limits when the elevator stopped to admit Jack and Sam.

"-but the Asgard are saying that Anubis is mounting an assault."

"The Gate should hold against any – Why hello, Daniel. How is everything?" Jack asked pleasantly.

"Fine," Daniel responded. "I'm showing Dr. Mutou around."

"Just call me Yugi, please," Yugi said sheepishly.

"Fine, Yugi. You can call me Daniel." Daniel pointed to Sam. "You've already met Jack. This is Dr. Samantha Carter, also a Major in the Air Force.

"You can call me Sam," Sam said pleasantly.

"Nice to meet you, Samantha-san," Yugi said, bowing slightly. He blushed. "Sorry, it's a force of habit."

"I understand."

"Where are you headed?" Jack asked as he and Sam boarded the elevator.

"Hammond's office."

"We're going there, too. We were actually on our way to meet you, Yugi," Sam said as the elevator began ascending.

"I see." Yugi tapped his fingers nervously against the side of the elevator.

/Is something wrong, Yugi?/

/You don't feel that?/

Yami was puzzled. /Feel what?/

/Sam's aura doesn't feel as pure as it should,/ Yugi explained. /I can't really explain it. It's as if something evil, like Malik, controlled her for a while./

Yami concentrated. /I feel it too. I cannot explain it./

/Can we trust her?/

/For the moment, I suppose we should. We can always take care of her later if she becomes a problem./

Yugi made a face. /I hate when you talk like that. You sound almost like Bakura!/

Yami chuckled. Yugi turned his attention back to the outside world just as the elevator came to a stop.

"This is our stop!" Jack announced cheerfully as the doors opened. Yugi followed the group out into the corridor.

Jack barely paused to knock before entering an office. Yugi was pushed to the front of the group as they approached Hammond's desk.

Hammond raised an eyebrow. "And this is…?"

"I am Dr. Yugi Mutou, General," Yugi said timidly.

If possible, the eyebrow rose even further.

"I wasn't aware of your age, Dr. Mutou. You are younger than I thought you would be."

"Daniel-san told me." Yugi fiddled nervously with the Puzzle.

" 'Daniel-san'?" Hammond echoed.

"Forgive me. It's how we address each other in Japan."

"I see." Hammond's eyebrow finally went back to normal as the General sorted through papers on his desk. "I trust that Dr. Jackson has told you that this place is top-secret?"

"He's said that on numerous occasions, General."

"And you're aware of the restricted areas?"

"Hai– I mean, yes."

Hammond nodded in satisfaction. Just then there was another knock at the door. "Come in!"

A black man walked in and inclined his head respectfully. "I was told you wanted to see me, General Hammond."

"Yes, I did." Hammond directed the man's attention to Yugi. "This is Dr. Yugi Mutou. He'll be helping Dr. Jackson with the tablets. Dr. Mutou, this is Murray."

Murray turned his attention to Yugi. A wave of nearly palpable evil washed over Yugi, leaving him wide eyed. He backed away, terrified.

Murray raised an eyebrow – Was that the common way to greet visitors here? – and asked, "Is there something wrong, Dr. Mutou?"

Yugi eeped.

/Yami!/

/I feel it too, Yugi. It's the same aura as around Major Carter, only much stronger./

Yugi stammered something unintelligible before rushing out of the room.

Jack stared after Yugi with an amused expression on his face.

"That's a first," he commented to Teal'c.

"Why did he run?" Sam asked, concerned.

All eyes turned to Daniel. The archaeologist shrugged.

"You expect me to know?"

"Maybe Janet should look at him," Sam suggested.

"Why?" Hammond asked.

"General, I think he may be a Goa'uld."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Quatre: Well, off to plot more. Ja ne and don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter Three: All Doctors Are Vampires

Quatre: Wow. Lotsa reviews already, and only for the first two chapters! This may be a hit, no da!

JK!!!!! Why must you go blabbing about my mistakes!!!! They're bloody embarrassing, no da. And I fixed them!

Don't mind me. I'm just bored, so that's why I'm posting this.

Oh yeah, speaking of JK, she's asked me to add in another warning. See below.

Anyway, the muses are comatose, and I'll be joining them shortly. Enjoy!

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Warnings: Shonen ai, AU for both shows, shameless Gundam Wing plugging. Don't ask, you'll see later on.

Pairings: Yami/Yugi

Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING! Got that?! I'M BROKE! Well, Ame's mine, but he hasn't shown up yet.

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**Chapter Three: All Doctors Are Vampires**

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"What's this about?" Yugi asked Dr. Janet Fraiser.

"We're just worried about your health," Janet said. "If you get sick under our care, your grandfather can sue us."

Yugi watched as she prepared a needle to draw blood.

"Where is Murray from?" he asked casually, ignoring the slight prick as the needle entered his arm.

"Out of the country," Janet replied. She slapped a band-aid on his arm.

"What country?" Yugi asked.

"I haven't got a clue. You might want to ask him yourself."

Yugi frowned. He didn't want to go near the man again, not after what he'd sensed.

/Yami, I think it would be better for you to deal with Murray from now on./

/All right./

/Is there anything you can tell me about that aura we sensed?/

/I'm afraid not. All I know is that I sensed it back in Ancient Egypt./

Yugi frowned.

Janet finished doing whatever doctors did with blood and walked back over to him.

"Take off your… dog collar, hold your head up and stay still," she instructed.

Yugi giggled and complied. She began prodding the back of his neck gently.

"What's this for?" he asked curiously.

"Just making sure everything's all right," she replied, finishing and stripping off her gloves. "You're free to go. I believe Daniel is waiting for you in his office. "

Yugi slid off the table. "Arigatou!" he quipped before dashing out of the infirmary.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Jack nearly tripped over a certain teen on his way to see Janet. He managed not to fall and stared after him.

"I wish I was his age," he sighed, continuing on his way.

Janet met up with him in the doorway. "There's no way to be certain without doing an MRI, but I don't think he's a Goa'uld," she said.

"Why do you think that?"

"I didn't feel anything. I checked his neck, and there was nothing there. I drew blood and the lab is processing it, so we'll see what it says."

"Okay, that's cool. Well, I'll see you later!"

Jack went off to pester Sam.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Yugi burst into Daniel's office. "Hi!" He bounded into a nearby chair and pulled a tablet towards himself and a laptop from his bag. He booted up the computer and began typing furiously.

Daniel looked up from his dictionary. "What are you doing?"

"What you paid me to do," Yugi replied, not looking up from his work.

"I still can't believe you don't need any books," Daniel said with a shake of his head. "May I see?"

Yugi turned the laptop towards him with a small grin. Rows of kanji filled the screen.

"I can't read that, either!" Daniel protested. "Why don't you write in English?"

"Because it's more comfortable writing in Japanese," Yugi replied, turning the laptop back towards himself. He looked back at the tablet and continued typing.

His hands froze suddenly. He leaned forward, reaching a hand out to brush across the hieroglyphs.

Daniel watched him, concerned. "What is it, Yugi?"

"Where did you get these?" Yugi asked, his eyes moving rapidly over the tablet.

"I can't say."

"You'd better!" Yugi snapped.

Daniel started. Yugi's voice held a dangerous edge to it, one that hadn't been there before.

"I can't say," Daniel said firmly.

Ruby eyes glared at him.

Daniel blinked. Ruby?

Hadn't his eyes been violet before?

Yugi's eyes softened just then, and he smiled. "Sorry. I guess I'll find out later, ne?"

He went back to typing.

Daniel stood slowly.

"I'm going to get a cup of coffee," he said, forcing his voice to stay calm.

Yugi waved his hand absently.

Daniel raced to Hammond's office.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"There's naquadah in his bloodstream," Janet announced to the assembled team.

"So what does this mean?" Jack asked.

"As you know, there's no naquadah on earth," Janet said. "He had to have gotten it from offworld. It's probable that he's a Goa'uld spy."

"So what do we do?" Daniel asked.

Everyone turned to Hammond.

"He hasn't done anything yet, so we just continue letting him translate the tablets."

"What about my episode with Yugi?" Daniel asked.

All eyes now turned to him.

"Episode?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. We were just translating and all of a sudden he begins demanding where the tablets came from. For a few minutes it was like I was talking to a different person. Then he went back to normal. But for those few minutes, his eyes had changed color. They'd turned red," Daniel explained.

"Interesting," Janet mused. "It's physically impossible for a person's eyes to change color within a few seconds."

"Well, his did."

"Dr. Fraiser, find an excuse to get him an MRI," Hammond ordered. "Meanwhile, give him an escort."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Yugi eyed the MRI machine warily. "What's this for?" he asked cautiously.

"Just medical stuff," Janet said soothingly. "Just get up on the table."

Yugi just shrugged but hopped up and lay back.

Janet moved to where the screen would show the scans. "Just relax," she instructed.

Yugi complied. He kept a hand in his pocket on his deck.

/Yami, they think we're enemies./

/Yes. But why?/

/You threatening Daniel-san didn't help them./

/Do you realize what are on those tablets?/

/Yes./

/Aren't you in the least bit curious has to how they got their hands on them when not even Shadi has a record?/

/They'll tell us in due time, I'm sure, Yami./

"We're finished," Janet said, audibly puzzled. Yugi jumped off the table.

"May I see?"

Janet shrugged and moved aside. Yugi took a look and made a face.

"So that's what people look like on the inside. It's not pretty, is it?"

Janet shook her head, regaining her composure. "It's getting late. Why don't you go get something to eat?"

"Okay!"

Yugi raced out of the room. Instead of going to the cafeteria, however, he went to his room. His escort followed.

After locking the door, Yugi stretched and watched Yami appear in the middle of the room.

"I don't trust them," Yami said flatly.

"I know. But what can we do? We're stuck here."

"I could get us out of here," Yami said.

Yugi glowered. "I know exactly how, too. I don't think so, Yami. If you failed, how would I explain it?"

"But then what would you suggest, aibou?"

Yugi frowned, sitting back on the bed.

"We should just stay here," Yugi sighed. "You can protect us from anything, and until then, we can see if the tablets tell us anything."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"He's not a Goa'uld," Janet said.

"Are you sure?"

"The MRI proved it. Yugi is not a Goa'uld."

SG-1 sat back with scattered expressions on their faces.

"So now what?" Daniel asked.

"A lie detector test?" Jack suggested.

Hammond nodded. "Very well. We'll do that tomorrow."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Quatre: Hope you enjoyed. Now 'tis my turn for a coma. Please hit that conspicuous button labeled "review" and everyone will be happy.


	4. Chapter Four: Glowing Red

Quatre: Well, here's the update. I realize that lie-detector tests aren't exactly like I've got this one here-

Yami Quatre: Meaning that this is totally off and Quatre's too lazy to change it.

Quatre: But the scene originally used that weird Zatarc thingy. And, frankly, Yami Quatre's right. I'm tired and I'll probably change this later.

Yami Quatre: #snort# Yeah, right.

#Quatre glares. Yami Quatre sticks her tongue out at her, then is abruptly glomped by something short.#

Ame: Ohayou!

Quatre: Ame, you're not supposed to show up yet!

#Ame climbs to his feet and pouts.#

Yami Quatre: #wheezing# For a short kid, you certainly have a lot of impact.

Ame: #bowing# How kind of you. #to Quatre# So, which chapter is this?

Quatre: Four. You haven't shown up yet. Go play with Kurai.

Ame: You know, with all that Yaoi you've been reading, that could be taken in the wrong context.

#Faint spluttering can be heard from outside the room.#

Ame: And doesn't your name mean four?

Quatre: Ame. I'm tired. Kenshin's brought back my staff. Guess what my next words are going to be.

Ame: Hopefully pizza.

#Quatre walks over to a closet and pulls out a golden staff topped with a winged sphere. The sphere is engraved with the eye commonly seen on the Millennium Items. In the center of the eye is a glittering sapphire.#

Ame: Eh? What's that? #He peers closely at the staff# Did you make that yourself?

Quatre: This is the Millennium Staff, Ame. Now, who would you rather be tortured by: Relena or Duo?

Ame: Eh? Duo, I think.

#Quatre holds up the staff. The sapphire glows, and Ame disappears.#

Kurai: #from the doorway# Wow. You haven't been irate enough to use the staff in a while. Oh well. At least you sent him to Duo. He won't mind.

Yami Quatre: Who? Ame or Duo?

Kurai: Both.

Quatre: #sighing# This is getting ridiculous. I'd better end this scene right now before Gail, Amon, Sharma, or Metta shows up.

Kurai: #perplexed# Who?

Yami Quatre: OCs.

Kurai: Ah. Hey, Digimon's on.

Yami Quatre: Which season?

Kurai: The first one.

 Yami Quatre: I'm in.

#Yami Quatre and Kurai proceed to fight over the remote. Quatre sweatdrops.#

Quatre: Anou… I should stop know. I don't even know why this has gone on this long anyway.  Anyway, please ignore all of our ramblings and enjoy!

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Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as before.

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Chapter Four: Glowing Red

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Yugi looked curiously at the strange apparatus set up on a table as he sat in a chair next to it. "What's this for?"

"It's a lie detector," Janet explained. "It tells if you're being truthful."

"I see."

Yugi frowned.

/Yami?/

/Yes?/

/What if they're after the puzzle and this is all just a sham to get it?/

Yami chuckled. /And you think I'm paranoid. I have a feeling that if they wanted it, we would not have it./

Yugi, comforted, sat back and waited. Technicians came over and attached a few wires to his left hand.

"Okay, Yugi, we're ready. Just relax. We're going to ask you some questions."

Yugi nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Yugi Mutou."

"How old are you?"

"17."

Janet stared. "I thought… never mind. How did you get your PhD?"

"Grandpa convinced a college where we live to let me take online courses," Yugi answered. "It didn't take me long since I tested out of most of the classes."

"What did you major in?"

"Ancient Egyptian language and culture."

"Why those particular courses?"

Yugi hesitated.

"Because it's a family thing," he answered finally.

Janet raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, afraid she had seen through his lie.

"Is that the only reason?"

"No," Yugi answered. "But the other reasons are private."

Janet scribbled something down. "Okay. Do you believe in aliens?"

Yugi blinked. "Aliens?"

Janet nodded.

Yugi smirked. "After what I've seen, aliens would seem almost normal."

"And what things would make aliens seem normal?"

Yugi shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Trust me."

Janet raised an eyebrow.

"Fine." Janet wrote something else down. "What're your thoughts on ancient Egypt?"

"Daniel-san was right," Yugi said automatically.

"About what?"

"The pyramids are way older than people think."

"How much older?"

Yugi counted on his fingers. /You're five thousand years old…/ he mused. /How much older are the pyramids?/

/Another five thousand years. That would mean ten thousand all together./

/Thanks./

"They're ten thousand years old," Yugi answered. "That would predate Egyptian civilization." He did a double take. "Wow! That means the Egyptians didn't build the pyramids!" He frowned. "But then who did?"

"Let's get back on track," Janet said. "Do you think magic is real?"

"Yes," Yugi answered immediately.

"Why?"

"Don't ask. It's too long a story."

Janet made another note.

"Okay," Janet said. "You can go."

Yugi jumped down off the chair, shaking his hand free of the wires.

/Let me take over for a moment, Yugi./

Yugi did.

Yami looked over at Janet, then past her, at the glass window. "Do not delve too deep into the past," he warned. "There are some secrets best left uncovered."

With that, he left the room.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Jack stared after Yugi as the teen left the room. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Perhaps Dr. Mutou knows more than he's letting on," Teal'c offered.

Jack snorted. "Did you see him? He was obviously hiding something."

"But is he working for the Goa'uld?" Hammond asked.

Janet walked in just then. "I don't believe so. However, he is more than he appears."

"So what do we do about him?" Daniel asked.

"Hopefully, he'll translate those tablets really fast so that he can leave," Sam said. She looked troubled.

"What, Sam?" Jack asked.

"His eyes changed just before he spoke to us," she said uncertainly. "I swear I saw them turn red. Blood red."

Everyone stared at her.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yugi plopped down into his chair and pulled his laptop into his lap. Yami appeared and picked up a tablet.

"I don't think you should have told them that, Yami," Yugi said as he began typing. His eyes scanned the tablet he'd been working on, picking out the place he's stopped at and continuing onward.

"Better me than Shadi," Yami answered. "If it had been him he'd have probably played a Shadow Game by now."

Yugi shuddered, recalling his own Shadow Game with Shadi. "I see your point."

Yami said nothing for a few moments, setting down the tablet and picking up another one. He skimmed through the hieroglyphs, not needing any books to help him.

"Yugi, come and see."

"What?"

"I believe I know where this came from."

Yugi set the laptop aside and jumped up to peer over Yami's shoulder. "A different planet?"

"It appears that way. My mother used to tell me stories of the false gods that enslaved us until the true Egyptian gods came and banished them," Yami said. "It would make sense if they were aliens."

Yugi frowned. "Maybe that's why Daniel-san wouldn't tell me where the tablets came from!"

They heard footsteps in the hall. Yami set the tablet down and disappeared. Yugi leaned over and studied the tablet as Daniel walked into the room, sipping a cup of coffee.

"Why didn't you tell me these came from another planet?" Yugi asked him. Daniel choked on his coffee.

"How do you know?" Daniel asked curiously, cleaning himself off and putting the now half-empty cup on the table.

Yugi pointed to a tablet. Daniel read it, or tried to. Frustrated, he finally asked, "So what does it say?"

Yugi leaned over and peered at it. "' It is five thousand years since the false gods have left us. Our home is lost among the stars above, but there is one link remaining. The Gate of Heaven, though buried, connects us to our brethren on Earth.' If you ask me, that says that they're on another planet. And what's with this Gate of Heaven? It stands to reason that if there was one on the planet you got this from, there has to be one here, right?"

Daniel was stunned. He clearly recognized the glyphs for "Stargate."

"And," Yugi said matter-of-factly, "it would make sense out of what Jack said before he got on the elevator when I met Samantha-san."

Daniel recalled that conversation.

Yugi righted himself and grinned. "Well?"

"Come with me."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So he knows," Sam said.

Daniel nodded. "No thanks to Jack."

Jack had the grace to look hurt.

"What?!"

They ignored him.

"How did he find out?" Hammond asked.

"It was written on the tablets," Daniel sighed. "He just happened to pick up the right one and made some pretty good guesses.

"It makes things a lot easier," Sam noted. "We could just hire him full time, like we did Daniel."

"I don't think so," a quiet voice said. They all turned to look at a sheepish Yugi, who entered the room.

"Gomen ne, but I just happened to overhear as I was walking by. I can't stay here full time. I have to get back to Japan and finish normal school."

"You're still in school?" Jack asked incredulously.

Yugi ignored the question. "I've just read all of the tablets," he said, sliding into a chair. "That's what I came to tell you guys. They say that a weapon may be found at this address, whatever that means." Yugi slid a paper across the table towards them. He jumped up again. "Now I'm going to go sleep."

He walked back out of the room, yawning. Everyone stared after him.

"Well…" Daniel said, then gave up and just shook his head.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Quatre: Oh, yes, and another thing that I forgot to mention. I realize that it would be perfectly logical for Daniel to read and speak Japanese. However, it was a matter of convenience. Basically, Danny doesn't speak Japanese 'cause I say so.

Kurai: #absently# That's not a very good reason. #cheers# Go MetalGreymon! Kick Myotismon's snobby ass!

Quatre: #sighs# I may have to change the rating because of your mouth, Kurai. #To the readers# Hope you enjoyed and please review!


	5. Chapter Five: Chevron Seven Locked

Quatre: This may be a bit early, but my computer monitor is going out and I won't be able to update again for a few weeks. Sooo…. Enjoy.

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Warnings and Disclaimer the same as always. In addition, I don't own Digimon Tamers.

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Beta's note:

And how many of you DIDN'T see the sign that says this story is AU? This is an AU story, people! Many of the notes you make about Teal'c no longer having a symbiote don't matter because this is AU! As for the comments about the security cameras, there is a reason that they are not mentioned yet. Remember, this thing has over 13 chapters now, and therefore has a long and involved plot. There is a method to this madness. This is not to say that you don't need to keep commenting, you do, just don't make any more noises about symbiotes, Chibi Jack, or security cameras. Thank you.

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Chapter Five: Chevron Seven Locked

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Chevron Six encoded."

Sam gazed through the Plexiglas window into the Embarkation Room, or the Gate Room as some called it. Technicians were finishing the final adjustments on a MALP probe, under the watchful eye of Jack and Teal'c. Daniel was back in his office, working on translating the tablets into something legible.

Hammond walked up next to her. "How is everything going?"

"We're just about to send the MALP to the address that Yugi gave us," Sam answered.

"Speaking of Yugi, I informed the President about Yugi's discovery of the Stargate. He said it was up to me whether or not to tell Yugi about the full program. I wanted to ask your opinion."

Sam shrugged. "I don't see why not. It would make things much easier and we could hire him full time after he graduates from school."

"About that. If Yugi is afraid of missing school, why doesn't he attend a school here? That way it would be possible to bring him into the program," Hammond reasoned.

Sam brightened. "That could work!"

The technicians finished with the MALP and sent it through the wormhole. Sam turned her attention to the screens that were showing the MALP's recordings.

"It's just some ruins," Sam muttered.

"Are those hieroglyphs I'm seeing?" Hammond asked.

Sam looked more closely. "Yes, they are."

"MALP reports that the planet has a near-earth climate," the MALP operator reported. "It should be safe to send a team in."

Jack and Teal'c walked into the control room just then.

"So are we going?" Jack asked.

Hammond nodded. "But not until we decide whether or not to bring Yugi into the program or not."

Jack shrugged. "Why not? It could be fun having a kid around here."

"I see no reason to object," Teal'c confirmed.

"Very well. I'll inform you when I schedule the meeting. Please stay on the base."

Jack saluted and walked off. Teal'c continued to watch the MALP recordings until the wormhole disengaged.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yami gazed expectantly at the group of five across from him.

"Well?" he prompted. "You've asked me to come here. What do you wish to discuss?"

Daniel sighed and slid a folder across the table towards him. Yami caught it easily and flipped through the contents. His eyebrow shot up.

/Aibou?/

/What, Yami?/

/You should read this./

Yugi appeared in spirit form next to Yami and read the papers over Yami's shoulder.

"You wish to bring me into the Stargate program?" Yami asked Hammond.

The general nodded affirmation. "You would be transferred to a school here, or if you wish we can even hire a home-school teacher."

Yami frowned. /What do you think, Yugi?/

Yugi frowned, reading over the conditions for his admittance. /It'll be hard, especially since we're leaving everyone behind. But since Grandpa gave his permission, I don't see why not./

/But what if someone seeking the Millennium Puzzle comes looking for it?/

Yugi shrugged and glanced towards Murray. /I have a feeling that this place has several tricks up its sleeves./

Yami would have nodded if they'd been alone. Instead, he said, /All right./

"Very well. I will join this program."

"Sign the bottom of the paper, then."

/Yugi? You should do this, since our writing is different./

Yugi took brief control and scribbled his name quickly. He retreated hastily, since Murray was making him nervous.

Hammond took the form and raised his eyebrow when he saw the signature was written in Kanji.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's start from the beginning," Jack said. He raised a remote. The lights dimmed, and a screen on the far wall flickered to life.

"The Stargate is as you guessed before. It allows us to travel from planet to planet," Daniel began. Yami looked to the screen and saw a picture of a large stone circle.

/Ah, I remember seeing carvings of this in the ancient temples. I was not told what it was though, since I was a child at the time./

"When symbols are input in the correct sequence, a wormhole forms," Daniel continued. Yami watched a brief video of the Stargate activating.

"It was found out by the Great Pyramids in the 1930's. After that, it changed hands until the military came into possession of it. I was hired to translate the cover stone six years ago. The first planet we went to, Abydos, was populated by an offshoot of the Ancient Egyptians who had been taken from Earth by Ra."

Yugi perked up. /Ra, as in the sun god?/

Yami relayed the question.

Daniel shook his head. "No. But I'll get to it. The Abydonians were mining naquadah for Ra. We helped free him and killed Ra. I stayed on Abydos afterwards, in part to help them recover, but also because I had been married while there. A year later, an enemy came through the gate and kidnapped one of the officers guarding it. At the time, the Air Force didn't know that the enemy hadn't come from Abydos. We eventually figured out that there was a network scattered throughout the various galaxies. An evil race called the Goa'uld is using it to terrorize everyone not powerful enough to repel them. Ra was a Goa'uld."

"And the Goa'uld are?" Yami prompted.

Jack hit another button on the remote. The screen changed from the Stargate to a 3D image of a serpent.

"The Goa'uld are parasites that require a host. They burrow into a person, wrap around the spine, and take complete and utter control. It's almost impossible to be free once you become a Goa'uld."

Yami nodded sympathetically. "If these Goa'uld are so bad, why do you use the gate?"

"We have a defense shield we call the Iris to block unfriendly visitors. It sits so close to the event horizon of the wormhole, matter doesn't even have the chance to rematerialize before it gets destroyed," Sam explained.

"It doesn't really matter, though, since they have ships that they've tried to use to attack us. But don't worry," Jack added, seeing the worried look on Yami's face. "We've got a treaty that prevents that."

"Tell me more about the Goa'uld," Yami said.

"Well, like we've said, they need a host. But before they can do that, they need to mature. The Goa'uld have engineered a race to carry the larval Goa'uld until they are mature enough to infest someone," Daniel said. "They created the Jaffa for this purpose. The Jaffa also serve as foot soldiers."

Yami raised an eyebrow. "I see. Is Murray one of these Jaffa?"

That earned him strange looks from everyone, even Yugi. The teenager had taken a seat on the table next to Yami and was listening to the entire thing.

"Yes, and his name isn't Murray, its Teal'c. How did you guess?"

"The reason I fled from Teal'c is because I sensed evil around him," Yami explained. "It was very strong, and if he were a Jaffa it would explain that."

No one asked how Yami could sense the evil around Teal'c. It seemed they already knew the answer, or thought they did.

"This program is dedicated to fighting the Goa'uld and freeing the people they oppress," Daniel finished.

"We also travel to other worlds not occupied by the Goa'uld as ambassadors, seeking advanced technology to help us," Sam added.

"I see. What would my place be here?" Yami asked.

"You'll stay here and translate whatever we find. With you so fluent in Egyptian, that would free Daniel up for other tasks. Also, should the need arise, you could travel with one of our teams and act as a translator."

/Sounds cool!/

/I'm glad that you are excited. I don't like the thought of you being put into danger, though./

Yugi snorted. /How could these Goa'uld be any worse than Yami Marik?/

/Point taken./

"Very well."

/Ask them if I'd have to wear a uniform./

Yami blinked. /Why?/

/I don't think golden puzzles are standard parts of military uniforms./

/Ah./

"Will I be required to wear the uniform?"

Everyone else blinked at the question. "Why?" Hammond asked.

"I'm just wondering."

Several questioning glances went around the room. "No, I don't suppose so," Hammond answered finally. "Just try not to dress too extravagantly."

"I understand. May I leave now? There is still much on the tablets that haven't been translated."

Everyone blinked.

"I thought you'd already translated them," Sam pointed out.

"I said I'd read them, and that's how I got the Stargate address. However, I did not translate them for you all to read, so that is what I'm continuing."

Everyone accepted that answer.

"Yugi, you'll be going with us on a mission," Daniel said. "We sent a probe to the coordinates you gave us, and there's a temple on that planet covered with hieroglyphs. I'll need your help to translate them."

"All right. When is this mission?"

"In two days. The formal mission briefing is tomorrow. Until then, Jack and Sam will explain how things are run here."

Yami nodded. "I will be in my room until then. I'll be seeing you later."

Yugi returned to his soul room as Yami stood and left.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sam watched as Yugi left the room. Jack fiddled with his remote again, and the screen changed from the Goa'uld to MTV. Hammond glared at Jack, who ignored the general and continued watching television.

"His eyes were red throughout the meeting, aside from when he signed the paper," she told Hammond, who'd given up and let Jack continue watching TRL. "I felt something all during the meeting, too. Like there was someone in here watching us."

"I too felt it," Teal'c confirmed.

"The puzzle glowed for a second before and after he signed the paper," Daniel said.

"'Glowed'?" Hammond echoed. "Normal gold doesn't glow."

"It did," Daniel insisted.

"We've already agreed that Yugi isn't a Goa'uld spy. What are we doing pointing out suspicious things about him?" Jack asked idly, changing the channel from MTV to the Anime Network and watching _Gundam Wing_. Everyone sweatdropped at his choice of cartoons.

"'It's better to be safe than to be dead, Mr. Irate McAngry,'" Sam quoted in a Scottish accent. Jack turned incredulously to her.

"You've watched _Digimon Tamers_?" he asked her.

"Only once, and the quote stuck because it was funny. And how do you know what show it was from?"

"Never mind," Jack said quickly. "Continue quoting."

Everyone laughed at him.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yugi finished translating one tablet and moved onto the next. So far, from the two tablets he'd translated there had turned out to be over one hundred pages of text, all pertaining to the history of the shadow games.

/We'd better hope Shadi doesn't come here before these leave,/ Yami murmured as he looked over Yugi's shoulder. /SG-1, hell, the whole SGC would be in the Shadow Realm before they could blink./

Yugi didn't answer; he was too busy trying to translate. Without Yami in his head, it was a bit harder. Still, he managed.

Daniel walked into the room. Fortunately, Yami was in spirit form so Daniel didn't see him.

"How much do you have done?" Daniel asked.

"I've finished translating two tablets. There's a lot of information on each of them. Once I'm done, this'll make for an interesting read."

"The briefing will be at 0900 hours tomorrow," Daniel told him. "The mission will take place at the same time the next day. You'd better get some sleep."

Yugi nodded. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow."

He shut down his laptop and walked out of the room. Yami didn't return to the Puzzle, choosing instead to walk next to Yugi.

/Do you want me to take over? You look tired./

/No thanks. I'll be fine./

/Are you going to tell them about me?/ Yami wondered.

/No. They'd probably think I was nuts and commit me./ He giggled at the thought.

/I would hope not./

Yugi reached the room and fished out his key card. /Although what with you popping out every few seconds I'm surprised they haven't noticed something is up yet./

/I'm sure they have. I shall try to be more careful./

Yugi closed the door behind him, pulled off his shoes, and collapsed onto the bed.

"Goodnight, Yami," he murmured as he fell asleep.

Yami shook his head and became solid long enough to tuck Yugi in before vanishing back into the Puzzle.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Quatre: Hope you enjoyed and be glad I was able to post this up now cause I don't think the computer monitor can hold out for much longer.

And I'm 17 tomorrow! #dances# Only one more year of high school to go!

Ja!


	6. Chapter Six: Of Thesauri and Dictionarie...

Quatre: Well, what do you know? I've got a monitor! Yay! That means you nice people get another chapter!

Yami Quatre: Ya know, it's not good to be hyper. And what's with the French in this chapter?

Quatre: I was studying for a French test at the time, remember?

Yami Quatre: Ah, yes.

Quatre: Good, I was beginning to think your memory was as bad as mine. Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and the next time I update, I will be back at the torture institution known as school.

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Warnings and Disclaimer the same as usual.

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Chapter Six: Of Thesauri and Dictionaries

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Daniel watched Yugi out of the corner of his eye as the briefing commenced. The boy looked a bit tired but was attentive enough to offer a few suggestions as the meeting wore on.

Most importantly, his eyes had gone back to being violet.

He didn't know why that was significant. Maybe it was because of his own encounter with the ruby-eyed Yugi.

He turned his attention back to the task at hand.

The area around the Stargate appeared to be abandoned, though the ruins had the potential to hide a squadron of enemy Jaffa. The basic objective was to get pictures of the ruins to bring back for translation.

"Are you nervous about going to another planet?" Sam asked Yugi as they were leaving the conference room.

Yugi shook his head. "Not really. I could think of worse places to be."

Sam caught his sidelong glance at Teal'c. He was doing his best to act normally around the Jaffa, but she could tell he was nervous.

"What could be worse?"

"Imprisoned within your own soul room by someone you don't know," Yugi replied, his voice taking on a sad note. "That reminds me, I've gotta call Ryou tonight and tell him how I am."

"'Soul room?'" Sam asked.

"Yeah. I think that within each of us, there's a room of our very own that is uniquely ourselves. That's your soul room, and if you get to restless sometimes you go there to think," Yugi replied.

Sam blinked. That would explain the place she had been during her stint as an unwilling Tok'ra host. "You may be right."

"How would being imprisoned within one's 'soul room' remind you to call a friend?" Teal'c asked.

Yugi shrugged. "I dunno. He just seems kinda trapped."

They made it to the elevator. "So what are you going to do later, Yugi?"

"Probably go back and translate. I've already got two tablets translated and I'm working on the third."

"That's fast."

"I know. And what's written on them is very interesting. I'll show you after I'm done and translate it from Japanese to English."

"You're translating it into Japanese?" Sam asked.

Yugi nodded. "It is my first language, after all. I'm more comfortable."

"I see."

The elevator arrived, and they got on.

"I'm hungry. Do you want to go to the cafeteria for lunch?" Sam asked Yugi.

Yugi considered it. "Sure!"

"I must decline," Teal'c said. "I must perform Kel'No'Reem."

The next time the elevator stopped, Teal'c got off. Yugi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you still uncomfortable around Teal'c?" Sam asked as the doors closed and the elevator started up again.

Yugi nodded. "I'm trying to overcome it, though, since I'm going to be here every day."

"I see."

The elevator bell dinged, signaling their stop. They got off and headed for the cafeteria.

They got their food and sat down at an empty table. Yugi didn't say anything; he just kept looking off into space thoughtfully.

"This mission isn't supposed to be very dangerous, is it?" he asked suddenly.

Sam jumped. She'd been listening to Jack talking about his younger counterpart and had almost forgotten Yugi was there.

She smiled at the teen. "It isn't, but with Anubis' forces out there it's always good to be cautious."

"And these Tok'ra," Yugi continued. "Are they going to be there?"

Sam shook her head. "Dad called and said that they wanted whatever info we found but we had to collect it ourselves."

Yugi raised an eyebrow. " 'Dad?'"

"My father volunteered to become a Tok'ra because he was dying from cancer," Sam explained. "Now he lives with the Tok'ra, but every once in a while he comes by to see me."

"I see. Forgive me, I'm just a little nervous. It's not everyday that one goes offworld, after all."

Sam studied him closely. Her observations of the teen made her believe that his changes in behavior (slight though they might be) occurred when his eyes changed color.

She was right. His eyes were a brilliant scarlet now.

"What causes your eyes to change color?" she asked on a whim.

He blinked. "My eyes?"

"Yeah. Daniel and I have noticed that your eyes change color every once in a while. What causes it?"

Yugi shrugged. "I don't know. I never realized that my eyes changed color at all, actually."

"I've seen them go from violet to red in the space of a few seconds. Perhaps you'll be able to see it sometime, it is rather creepy."

"I shall look." Yugi frowned, searching her expression for something. When it was obvious he couldn't find what he was looking for, he shook his head. Sam watched him closely.

The next time she saw his eyes, they were violet.

/That is going to screw with my head,/ she sighed. Yugi stared at her strangely, but decided not to comment.

"Samantha-san, are we permitted to bring personal items on missions?" Yugi asked.

"Depends. What do you want to bring?"

"My duel disk from Battle City. It has a holographic projection system that is designed to create replicas of Duel Monsters cards during game play. Perhaps, if Jaffa show up, the holograms will frighten them into retreating long enough for us to reach the Stargate!" Yugi said cheerfully.

"Show it to me later, then. I can ask General Hammond if it is allowed."

"Thanks, Samantha-san."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yugi finished his lunch and headed off to his room to prepare for the mission. He had to wake up at 0700 the next day in order to get geared up for the mission, but there was something he had to check beforehand.

/I hope I packed the Duel Disk!/

/Relax, aibou. We can always use the Shadow Realm to return to Japan and retrieve it./

/I'd rather not. What if someone finds out I'm missing?/

/You worry too much. I can go, if that'll make you feel better./

/Thanks, Yami./ Yugi grinned.

Yugi reached his room and entered, diving immediately for his still-unpacked suitcase. He began rummaging around through it, tossing random articles behind him without bothering to look where they landed. Yami appeared to help him, but he materialized just as Yugi tossed his history book at the spirit.

Yami caught the book and smiled in amusement. "It would be better if you didn't endanger random pedestrians in your search."

Yugi paused and looked behind him. "Oh. Sorry, Yami."

Yami set the book down and opened Yugi's other suitcase. He found not one, but two duel disks inside, both Yugi's and Ryou's.

"Yugi? Why do we have Ryou's duel disk?"

Yugi looked up. "I have it? I'll have to apologize when I call him. I didn't realize I'd packed it!"

"You were in a bit of a hurry, I'll grant you that. After the mission we can return it. I have a feeling we may need it."

There was a knock at the door. Yami returned to the puzzle as Yugi stood and walked to the door, dusting his hands off as he went.

"Yes?" he called.

"It's me, Yugi," Daniel's voice replied. "I wanted your help with a translation."

Yugi opened the door to admit Daniel. "What translation did you need help with?"

Daniel entered the room, and his eyebrows shot up as he saw the mess on the floor. He very carefully edged around the various articles of clothing, sticking close to the wall until he was clear of the leather and buckles. Yugi blushed slightly.

"Ano… sorry about the mess. I'll clean up in here after you've gone."

Daniel nodded.

"I was sure that the last time I was in here, it was a whole lot more tidy. Just hope that Sam doesn't see it like this. She'd probably throw a fit."

Yugi blinked.

"Wouldn't it be Jack who'd throw the fit? After all, he's a Colonel. You don't get through living in barracks without having to keep things absolutely perfect."

Daniel coughed slightly.

"That's right, you've never seen Jack's house, have you?"

"Hn?"

"It looks like this… all throughout."

Yugi grinned, then remembered why Daniel was there in the first place.

"Daniel-san? The translation?"

Now it was Daniel's turn to blink.

"Huh? Oh, right. Here."

Daniel pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. A couple of Hieroglyphs were on it.

"I copied it down here. Can you tell me what it means?"

Yugi stared down at the paper.

/Yami!/

/He must have picked up that last tablet by mistake. How…/

/Should we tell him what it says?/

/Yes… but be vague./

"It says 'Dark Kingdom'." Yugi lied. The glyphs _actually_ read as 'Shadow Realm'.

"You sure about that?" Daniel asked. Yugi kept himself from letting the lie show on his face.

"Pretty sure."

"I thought you had a dictionary in your head though?"

"Yeah, but it's cross-referenced with a thesaurus."

Daniel chuckled at that. "Thanks for the help. I'll come by tomorrow to get you for the mission, okay?"

Yugi nodded, kneeling down and gathering up some of the buckles and leather shirts. Daniel sighed and leaned down to help him.

"Arigatou," Yugi said gratefully, dumping his things back in the suitcase.

"No problem." He took a seat on the bed and studied the glyphs again. "You're sure it says 'Dark Kingdom?'"

"The thesaurus never lies. Or is that the dictionary?" Yugi wondered, grinning inwardly at Yami.

/Remind me to yell at Bakura when you finally call him./

Daniel sighed and thrust the paper back into his pocket. He noticed the Duel Disks lying on the bed next to him. "What're those?"

Yugi picked one up and put it on. "It's what I use to duel with. It creates holographic representations of the monsters on Duel Monsters cards, making the gameplay more interesting. Let me show you…" He pulled out his deck and flipped quickly through it. He grinned when he came to a certain card.

"I summon Kuriboh, in attack mode!"

Daniel blinked. A furball the size of his head had appeared in the middle of the room. A furball with four paws and wide violet eyes.

Jack walked in just then and did a double take. "Who bought the tribble?"

Yugi giggled. "I remember that episode. Very entertaining. It's a Kuriboh, a low-level monster card that I use mainly to defend. When I play it with my magic card Multiply, I get a lot of Kuribohs. It's very helpful when I'm in a tight spot with only a few life points left."

"I see." Jack looked dubiously at Kuriboh. It chirped and snuggled up to him. Yugi sweatdropped.

"Seto-kun made the holograms just a bit too real," he sighed, removing the card from the active slot and shutting down the Duel Disk. He set it next to the other one. "Quelle heure est-il?" he asked.

The Americans blinked. "Excuse me?" Jack asked.

Yugi thought about what he said and smacked his forehead. /Yami!/

There was a chuckle at the back of his mind. /Forgive me, Yugi. I could not resist./

/Wait until some other time!/

"I meant, 'What time is it?'" Yugi explained. "I was studying French before I went looking for my Duel Disk."

"I see. Well, je ne parle pas français," Jack replied smoothly. "It's around eight. Why don't you go to bed? You'll need your rest for tomorrow."

Yugi nodded. "I think I will. Oyasumi, Daniel-san, Jack."

"I assume that means 'good night.' Good night, Yugi," Daniel said.

He and Jack left the room. Yugi sighed. Yami appeared on the bed, chuckling to himself.

"I must compliment Bakura. He was the one that proposed that little stunt."

Yugi scowled. "It wasn't fun. And you know I don't like to lie."

"You didn't have to."

"Oh, what was I going to say? 'The dictionary in my head started speaking French?' How do you think they would have reacted to that?"

"Good point." Yami didn't stop chuckling, however. Yugi sighed.

"You are incorrigible."

"I had to be, when I was pharaoh."

"See what I mean?"

Yami sat up and tossed a Duel Disk at him. "Put one of these someplace where you won't forget it. You've been staying up too late!" he admonished playfully.

"No thanks to you," Yugi grumbled, pulling a pair of pajamas from his suitcase and changing quickly.

"What do I have to do with it?"

"I wasn't the one listening to Weiß last night!"

"I didn't think you could hear it from my soul room."

"The walls were shaking, Yami. Yes, I heard it."

"I thought the walls were soundproof."

Yugi climbed into bed and turned out the light with a sigh. "Oyasumi, Yami."

Yami stared at his hikari in the dark long after the boy had gone to sleep.

"Oyasumi, Yugi-chan," he whispered finally, slipping onto the bed next to Yugi and closing his eyes with a sigh.

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Quatre: I should change the warning to "shameless plugging of anything and everything." I'm thinking about making Noah a Star Wars fan, even.

Yami Quatre: JK would be happy, maybe.

Quatre: I would hope. And there was a little bit of Yami/Yugi in this chapter.

Yami Quatre: Why can't we post the next chapter, too?

Quatre: Because I want to get back to reading.

Yami Quatre: Oh. What're you reading?

Quatre: What else? #to readers# I do hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review! And thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! I'll probably have reviewer replies… eventually. Oh yeah, and I'm aware that I owe someone a cameo. Please review and tell me both name and gender and I'll put you in… somewhere.

Yami Quatre: Not very reassuring, no da.

Quatre: You're not helping.


	7. Chapter Seven: Black Rather Than Green

Quatre: Well, another year of school's here. I hate Trig.

Yami Quatre: You're going to work on it later, right?

Quatre: Hai. I won't understand it, though.

Yami Quatre: Oh well.

Quatre: I'll stick to my weekly update schedule until I run out of chapters, then you'll just have to wait for them. I'm not going to be able to work on fics much because of homework (I'm taking both Trig and Physics) and the fact that my computer privileges are still limited. Oh, and I promised someone a Seto/Yami fic in return for doujinshi scans, so I'll be working on that too.

Yami Quatre: At least you have your priorities straight.

Quatre: Shaddup. I will try and work, though. And I can't work on LFHR until September because I left the word document at home. No worries to those readers, though, because I have the ending planned and an idea for a sequel is already brewing, no thanks to my muse here.

Yami Quatre: You need to work on your fics, but even I recognize the need to do your homework. I'll try to stop. No promises.

Quatre: ... Thanks, I guess.

Yami Quatre: Now get to the fic!

Quatre: Yes'm.

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Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as usual.

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**Chapter Seven: Black Rather Than Green**

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Yugi swung tiredly at the alarm clock. Instead of shutting it off, like he'd planned, it flew off the table and collided with the wall. He blinked tiredly at it.

/I must have been more tired than I thought./ He hadn't expected to sleep that long.

He was quite content to stay where he was, though. It was warm and comfortable in bed, and besides, Yami would wake him up if he was in danger of being late.

He burrowed deeper into the blankets, sighing contentedly. He rolled over and blinked in surprise as his sleep-fogged mind finally registered why he was so comfortable.

/Yami?!/

The spirit was lying asleep next to him, arms wrapped comfortably around Yugi's midsection. He looked so peaceful that Yugi couldn't bring himself to wake Yami up.

/Why didn't he go back to his soul room?/ he asked himself, keeping his thoughts private so Yami wouldn't hear them and wake up. He gazed searchingly at Yami's sleeping face, looking for an answer. He saw nothing but peace and contentment.

/It's strange. Yami wouldn't normally do something like this. What if Daniel-san or Samantha-san had walked in and seen him?/

Yami frowned and pulled Yugi closer to him, resting his head lightly on Yugi's. Yugi tensed and stopped thinking.

Then he realized that Yami was talking softly to himself.

Yugi froze when he heard what exactly Yami was saying.

"Aishiteru, Yugi-chan..."

/What the?!/

He blinked.

/He said "Yugi-chan." He's never said that before. It was always "Yugi-kun" or just "Yugi."/

This was getting to be a very confusing day.

Yugi turned his head slowly. The alarm clock read 7:30 from its place near the door. He had to get up now, or risk being late for the mission.

"Yami," he said gently, reaching up and tapping the spirit gently on the shoulder. Yami stirred slightly and opened his eyes.

Only to stare directly into Yugi's.

They both blinked. Yami looked down and registered that he was actually holding Yugi, probably like in his dreams, judging from what Yugi had heard.

"Anou...We have to get up," Yugi said gently, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Yami nodded and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He'd never stayed in his physical form for this long, before. He hadn't realized how draining it could be, even if that physical form was sleeping.

"I can explain that," he said quietly, looking down at his hands and wringing them nervously. He hated that. He wasn't ever supposed to be nervous.

"Later. I'm just worried about being late for the mission!" Yugi jumped out of bed, shot Yami a mock scowl, wagged his finger at the surprised spirit, and dug some clothes out of his suitcase.

Yami didn't miss the fact that Yugi changed his clothes with his back to him this time, however.

His heart sank. /He knows.../

Yugi put leather wristguards on his wrists, then added an armband on his right upper arm after a few moments of thought, and buckled the Puzzle securely into place. He was now wearing the same outfit he'd worn at Battle City though the armband was a new addition. He turned to Yami. "Grab the Duel Disk and come on! We have to get something to eat, and we've haven't got much time, seeing as we still have to get geared up for the mission and who knows how long that'll take!"

Yami nodded. "Very well."

Yugi smiled at him. "Don't worry, Yami-kun. I don't care about what happened this morning."

Yami blinked. Yugi had added the "-kun" ending to his name. That meant that Yugi's feelings truly hadn't changed. He smiled, a genuine smile that only Yugi got to see.

"Arigatou," Yami said gratefully, disappearing back into his soul room as Yugi walked over to the door and out.

After a quick breakfast while ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the base personnel, Yugi rushed to the gateroom with a half an hour to spare.

Jack gaped at his clothes. "What in God's name are you wearing?!"

Yugi looked down. "It's what I wore in Battle City! It's comfortable, and I can move in it! No need to worry, Jack."

Yami chuckled at Jack's doubtful look.

"No offense, Dr. Mutou, but perhaps you would be more comfortable in a uniform," Sam suggested. "We have time. You could go change."

"Unless I absolutely have to wear one of your uniforms, I'd prefer to wear this," Yugi said firmly. He performed a high kick for Jack's benefit, thanking Yami for making him take karate lessons. "And besides, I doubt that you have uniforms that could fit me."

Jack looked a little more convinced. "You're probably right about that... But if you fall behind when the Goa'uld attack, next time you're wearing a uniform. If we can find one to fit you. Go get a vest, though. It'll hold your radio plus a few other things."

"No argument from me," Yugi agreed.

After getting fitted with a vest (the smallest still being a tad too large for him) he took a seat on the ramp and checked his Duel Disk to make sure it was working properly.

"Is that what you were talking about yesterday during dinner?" Sam asked, leaning down to peer at it.

Yugi nodded. "Jack even saw what it could do."

Sam looked expectantly over at Jack.

"It makes tribbles," Jack supplied.

Yugi snorted. "It was a Kuriboh. Here, let me show you. Just tell them not to shoot me or something," he said, indicating the armed soldiers lining the walls.

Jack nodded.

Yugi looked through his deck. /Not something too big or frightening.../

He grinned and slid a card into the active slot. "I summon the Mystical Elf in defense mode!"

Sam gasped as the elf appeared kneeling in front of Yugi. "It looks so real!"

"I noticed," Jack said dryly.

Yugi put the card back in his deck and noted the surprised looks of all the people in the room. "You guys act like you've never seen holograms before."

"Not on Earth," Sam clarified. "Who developed that?"

"Seto Kaiba. And before you ask, no, he won't sell you the technology. He's determined to keep it out of the hands of the military."

Sam almost pouted.

Just then, Teal'c and Daniel walked into the room. Daniel stopped short and stared at Yugi's clothes.

"Am I still dreaming?" he asked no one in particular. "I can't be seeing Yugi wearing that outfit, can I?"

"You are not dreaming, Dr. Jackson," Teal'c confirmed. "I too am seeing it."

Jack sighed. "Leave the kid alone. Now, come on, Yugi, and let me show you how to fire a Zat."  
  
Yugi watched as Jack demonstrated how to open up one of the alien weapons and how to fire it. Jack then handed him the gun and told him not to lose it.

Yami took over as they waited for nine o'clock to roll around. He examined the Zat carefully.

/I do not remember this from my time in Egypt,/ he said. /It is fascinating./

/Well, don't shoot anyone,/ Yugi advised. /We'll just stick with the duel disk. If we remove the safety settings, even the holograms should do some damage without a little help from the Shadow Realm./

/I concur./

And Yami removed all of the failsafes designed to protect players from being hurt from the holograms.

Finally, it was nine. Yugi took over again and stood as the other members of SG-1 lined up in front of the ramp.

General Hammond's voice boomed from the control room via intercom.

"Yugi, what in God's name are you wearing?!"

Yugi sighed. "Jack said it was okay this time, Hammond-sama."

In the control room, Hammond raised an eyebrow. Being called "Hammond-sama" was new.

"Very well. Check in every three hours, Jack," Hammond ordered.

Jack waved acknowledgement and turned to the team as the Stargate began dialing. "Well, for those of you that are new, please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times."

"Of course," Yugi agreed. "It wouldn't do to lose something, now, would it?"

Jack grinned. "I think I'll like you, kid. Now," he continued as the Stargate engaged, "would you like to go first, Yugi?"

Yugi looked up at the shimmering pool of light and nodded. He walked up the ramp and hesitated just before the pool.

"Kirei," he whispered in awe, reaching out to brush his hand lightly across the surface of the pool.

/This sure beats anything in the Shadow Realm!/

Yami chuckled. /Just keep going, Yugi. You are holding up the others./

Yugi glanced behind him. /Right./

He stepped through the pool.

It was the strangest feeling, like all of him was being taken out and put back together again.

And then he was through the gate, tumbling to the ground and rolling down a set of steps. He came to a rest looking up at the sky.

/There's a planet above us, Yami./

/Are you all right, Yugi?/

/Yeah. Just give me a minute./

Yugi sat up as SG-1 exited the wormhole.

"Nice place," he commented, taking a look around.

The gate was only a few yards away from the ruins, which stretched into the distance on their left. On their right was a forest, broken occasionally by hills or cliffs. Random rubble was scattered across the area, creating a maze-like effect.

"You two go and take your pictures," Jack ordered, sounding as casual as if they were in a park and not on another planet. "We'll cover you."

Yugi and Daniel nodded, heading for the ruins. Yugi was hard-pressed to suppress a childish grin as he entered the ruins and took a good look.

The entire room was filled with hieroglyphs, from floor to ceiling. Several corridors branched off from the room they were currently in, leading them deeper into the ruins.

/Yami, you should go into your spirit form and keep an eye on things,/ he suggested as he and Daniel squeezed past the MALP into the building proper.

Yami appeared and nodded, but Yugi could feel the slight pang of hurt that Yami felt.

/Don't feel bad!/ he scolded, wishing that he could give Yami a comforting hug. He sent the feeling, though. /If you think this is about what happened this morning, don't worry!/

Yami looked a little relieved and took a seat on the MALP.

Yugi turned to the wall and took the camera Daniel handed him. They were supposed to get pictures of the hieroglyphs on the ruins before starting to translate them.

"You start on that wall," Daniel directed, pointing to the opposite wall. Yugi nodded and went over. It was, surprisingly, light enough to read the glyphs without a flashlight.

They worked in silence. Yami eventually got bored just sitting around and took a trip down one of the passages.

/Yugi! There is something you should see!/

Yami's voice caught him by surprise and he jumped, startled. Daniel shot him a questioning look before turning back to the wall.

Yugi was near the passage Yami had gone down anyway, so he made sure Daniel wasn't looking and followed Yami.

/Where are you?/

Yami poked his head through a nearby wall. "There is a passage about twenty feet down. Turn down it, then turn left down the first passage you come to." He popped back out again.

Yugi did as he was told. He came face to face with a large inscription on the wall.

In the middle of the inscription was a picture of the seven Millennium Items.

Yugi couldn't believe his eyes. "How could the inhabitants of this place know about the Millennium Items?!"

"I do not know, but we cannot let Dr. Jackson or Colonel O'Neill know about this."

"All right," Yugi said, turning to leave.

Suddenly, the ground gave away beneath his feet. Yugi cried out and scrambled for a handhold, but there were none nearby. He plunged into darkness. There was the sound of breaking glass or ceramic, then nothing.

"Yugi!" Yami cried. "Are you all right?!" He jumped down and conjured a light.

Yugi clutched at his right leg. "It hurts," he whimpered.

Yami leaned down to check Yugi's leg but paused when he heard rustling.

"There's something down here," Yugi whispered.

They turned in the direction the noise was coming from.

A snake slithered slowly into view. Yugi backed away from it slowly, using his hands to move, and ended up hitting the wall. Yami placed himself in front of Yugi, blocking him from the serpent.

It ignored Yami, going around the spirit. When it caught sight of Yugi, it stopped and raised itself off the ground.

Yami recognized it. "Yugi! Get down! It's a Goa'uld!"

Before either of them could do anything, it had struck.

"Yami!" Yugi cried, instinctively trying to move away from the serpent and finding himself unable to.

The Goa'uld took advantage of Yugi's open mouth and dove into it.

Yugi clutched at his throat and cried out in pain as the Goa'uld entered him.

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Quatre: I hope you enjoyed. I don't have much to say here, except to ask everyone who reads to review!!!


	8. Chapter Eight: Yami does a Heero

Quatre: Gotta love Computer Resources. I'm updating this in class, no da.

Yami Quatre: Good for you. What's to be said about this chapter?

Quatre: I would like to tell everyone that Ryou, Malik, and all their alternate personalities are going to show up. Eventually.

Yami Quatre: That's good to know.

Quatre: The site stole my fancy breaks so I've gotta come up with new ones. Che. Bastards. Enjoy the fics, anyways!

* * *

Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as always.

* * *

Chapter Eight:Yami does a Heero

* * *

"Yugi!" Yami cried, leaping forward and grasping the tail of the serpent, trying vainly to pull it out.

It slipped from his grasp. Yugi gave a final whimper before passing out.

Yami growled, half in annoyance and half in concern, before taking control of their body. He grabbed at his radio.

"Colonel O'Neill," he said calmly.

"What?" O'Neill asked, his voice slightly distorted by static.

"I require assistance. I got lost and fell into a hole," Yami said. "I might have hurt my leg, and I don't want to risk injuring it more."

"Smart idea. Where are you?"

"I cannot say. Like I said, I got lost. I'm in the ruins, though."

"All right. Stay put. We'll be there as fast as we can."

Yami nodded, though of course no one could see. "All right. Yugi out."

He shifted so that he was in a better position and took a look at his injured leg. It was most definitely broken. With an effort, and not a little pain, he managed to get the bones lined up again and wrapped his jacket around it to, hopefully, keep the bones together.

He then turned his attention inwards, and found himself standing in his and Yugi's shared soul corridor. He blinked in surprise when he saw a third door had been added, on Yugi's side of the corridor. Someone was banging on the door, trying his or her hardest to get out.

"Oi! Lemme out! I'm not going to take control of you, dammit! Lemme out!"

Yami raised an eyebrow at that statement. Choosing to ignore the Goa'uld, he went to Yugi's door and knocked. "Yugi? Are you okay?"

The door opened, and Yugi stepped out into the hall.

"It's been all I could do to keep that thing in there," he said tiredly. "I'm not as adept at magic as you. Please do something about it?"

"We should see what we could find out about it first," Yami said. "But that can wait until we've been rescued. Are you all right?"

"I'm just a bit shaken, that's all. Since you weren't in here, you couldn't feel the pain," Yugi shuddered. "It was horrible."

Yami wrapped his arms around his aibou in an attempt to comfort him. "It's all right, Yugi. We won't let this Goa'uld do anything."

Yugi nodded, but couldn't help crying. "It was horrible!" he sobbed. "Even though I locked him in his room, he could still see everything! He knows about everything! He knows about the Items, and about Jou, and Ryou, and Anzu! I don't want anything to happen to them!"

"I won't let anything happen to them, Yugi. I promise," Yami said gently.

Distantly, he heard the radio in the real world come to life, and someone talking.

"You answer them," Yami said. "I'll take care of the Goa'uld."

Yugi pulled away with a nod.

He winced as the pain of his broken leg registered. "Oww..." he muttered as he fumbled for the radio. "This is Yugi. Did you guys say something?"

"Yeah. Shout as loud as you can. Perhaps we'll be able to hear you."

Yugi set the radio aside, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Daniel?! Jack?!" No time to bother with formalities, he decided.

"Yugi?!" came the faint reply.

"Down here!" Yugi cried, relieved.

He heard footsteps coming his way.

"Is there anything we should be looking for?" Jack asked over the radio.

Yugi sighed. "There's an inscription on the wall. The hall's a dead-end. And the big hole in the floor should be a good indicator."

Unbeknownst to him, Sam chuckled at that.

The footsteps grew closer, and suddenly there was a light shining down on him. Yugi winced and threw up his hands to block the light.

"Hey, you all right?" Jack called down.

"Do I look all right?" Yugi asked crossly. His leg was making him grumpy.

"You look like shit, kid. No offense. Hang on. I'll come down and get you."

"Fine," Yugi sighed, resting his head against the wall.

Jack easily jumped down into the hole. "How'd you manage this, kid?" he asked lightly, examining Yugi's leg.

"The ground gave out beneath me. I didn't exactly have time to plan a landing."

/Yami, next time I start talking like Bakura, hit me./

Yami snorted. /It is an extreme case. Besides, we all have the right to be a little snippy every once in a while./

Yugi chuckled, and winced as that aggravated his throat. He hadn't noticed how much it hurt until just then, and his shouting hadn't helped it any.

"I want to secure that leg a bit better," Jack decided. "You did a nice job of handling it yourself, though. I didn't think you had it in you."

Yugi refrained from answering.

"Hey, Sam! The kid's got a broken leg. You have any splints up there?"

A set him squarely in the head. "Right there, sir," Sam called down.

Yugi grinned at the indignant look on Jack's face.

"Now, this is going to hurt. A lot. Trust me, though, and whatever you do, don't move."

Yugi nodded and braced himself. Jack looked over at him and carefully took the injured leg in his hand. Yugi bit back a scream as a wave of pain nearly overwhelmed him. A small whimper escaped him, though.

As quickly as he was able, Jack secured the leg with the splint and wrapped Yugi's jacket around it again.

Yugi was barely conscious, the pain having been almost too much for him. Jack carefully picked him up and took the rope that Daniel lowered down for them.

Yami appeared next to them, invisible to anyone but Yugi. He could barely watch as Jack carried Yugi out of the ruins, wanting nothing more than to gather Yugi in his arms and make the pain go away.

Yugi woke up just as they reached the entryway.

"Where are we going?" he asked Jack.

"Back to Earth. You need to get that leg taken care of," Jack replied.

Yugi shook his head. "We need to get those pictures!" he exclaimed, trying to get out of Jack's grip but failing. "That's what we came here for, right?!"

"Sam, Teal'c, and Daniel will take care of it. Now no complaining."

Yugi pouted. "I was really looking forward to it, too."

"Sorry," Jack said as they reached the gate.

Yami, having remained in his spirit form, suddenly whirled to Yugi.

"We've got trouble! There're people heading this way, and it looks like they're carrying variations of Teal'c's weapon!"

Yugi paled. "Jaffa?!" he asked, forgetting a moment that Jack was there.

"Where?" the colonel demanded.

Yami pointed, and Yugi did the same so Jack could see.

"Over there!"

Jack set Yugi down behind the DHD and unslung his machine gun. "Guys, get back here!" he barked into his radio. "We've got incoming Jaffa!"

"On our way! Daniel just got the last of the pictures, and Teal'c stayed at the hole to get pictures of the inscription there!" Sam reported.

"How many are there?" Daniel asked as he and Sam emerged from the ruins and took cover behind some rubble near the gate. Teal'c followed a few seconds later.

"It looks like thirty or forty," Jack called back, opening fire on the leaders.

"Fun," Yugi said dryly, reaching into his bag and taking out his duel disk. "Perhaps I should help a bit."

/Shall I take over?/ Yami asked.

/No, I should be able to handle it,/ Yugi assured.

Yami nodded and returned to his soul room. Yugi drew a hand and nodded in satisfaction.

"I summon the Dark Magician, in attack mode!"

The spellcaster appeared next to Yugi.

Several balls of energy passed by overhead. The Dark Magician leaped in front of them and knocked most of them aside with its staff.

"Attack with Dark Magic!" Yugi commanded, looking at his hand and playing another card. "Summoned Skull, lightning strike!"

The two monsters leaped into the middle of the enemy ranks and launched their attacks. Half of the Jaffa turned to attack them, but the other half continued firing on SG-1.

Yugi sighed. "I activate Mirror Force!" he commanded. Most of the energy bolts hit an invisible shield and were bounced back to their origins. The others were knocked aside by the Dark Magician.

Jack stopped to reload and took the time to shoot a sideways look at Yugi. The teen had several cards clutched in his hand and was watching the battle intently.

"There are more coming up from the south!" Sam reported, turning to fire in that direction.

Yugi drew more cards and laid one on his duel disk. "Trap hole!"

Sam stopped firing and blinked. "They're not there anymore."

"Of course not!" Yugi said. He looked out towards his monsters again. "They appear to be doing well for themselves. That's cool. But let me see..."

He drew another card to replace the one he'd just played. "I don't think Dark Hole will do us any good," he murmured, discarding it. He drew another. "Raigeki!" he called, slipping a card into one of the slots.

The sky darkened, and lighting struck the other Jaffa. Yugi's two monsters leapt out of the way. After the lightning cleared away and the sun shone properly again, there were no more Jaffa.

"I want one," Jack said as Yugi removed the cards from the various slots and placed them back in the deck.

"Enter the next Battle City tournament, then," Yugi said.

Sam stood cautiously, swinging her weapon around the area, just in case.

"All clear," she reported. "We got the photos. Should we head back?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah. Daniel, dial the gate."

Daniel immediately went to the DHD and began pushing buttons. Jack picked Yugi up again. Yami returned to his soul room and set about putting wards up around the Goa'uld's Soul Room.

/They won't last for long,/ Yami sighed after he finished. /But they'll hold for now./

The gate activated with a whoosh. Jack was the first to step through it.

"We need medical in here!" he yelled as soon as he was back in the SGC.

"What happened?" Hammond asked as a few doctors ran in, a stretcher between them. Jack carefully set Yugi down and turned to the control room.

"Yugi got lost in those ruins and apparently came upon a place where the floor was unstable, and fell through it. We also found a few Jaffa, but Yugi helped us take care of them. I don't care what you have to do to Seto Kaiba, I want one of those Duel Disks!"

The doctors wheeled Yugi out of the gate room. Sam walked over to Jack, puzzled. "Sir?"

"Yes?" Jack asked.

"Are we sure Yugi isn't a Goa'uld? That feeling I'm getting from him is stronger than before."

Jack sighed. "We've been over this, Carter. Yugi is not a Goa'uld."

"We don't know how long he was in those ruins before we found him. It is completely possible that the Goa'uld found him first. Our radios aren't the most secure, you know. Sir," she added as an afterthought.

"Find. Keep an eye on him, if you want. I'm going for food. Later." Jack headed for the locker room.

Sam frowned and did the same.

* * *

Yugi fell asleep as he was wheeled into the infirmary, and Yami, not wanting to risk the Goa'uld getting free, took control of the body. He looked around as he waited for someone to come and fix his broken leg.

The pain was lessening, actually, much to his surprise. Yami unwrapped his jacket and took a look, startled by what he found.

The leg was already half-healed.

"Yes, Colonel O'Neill did mention that the Goa'uld are able heal much faster than normal beings," he said softly to himself.

Janet walked in just then. "How're you feeling?" she asked pleasantly.

Sam poked her head into the infirmary, spotted Yugi, and strolled in. "I came to check up on him," she explained, tilting her head towards Yugi. She began to walk closer but stopped within a few feet of him.

"I thought I was just imagining things," she murmured. "Janet," she called. "Get security down here. I think Yugi may have picked up a Goa'uld."

Yami raised an eyebrow.

"You can sense it because you were a host, however briefly," he mused. "I understand you feel obligated to call security. If I were in your position I would have, also. However, I ask you to recognize that it is not the Goa'uld who is in control. I have sealed it temporarily inside its soul room. If you call everyone here, as soon as your security measures are taken, I will explain everything, including why the Goa'uld is not in control at the moment."

Meanwhile, Janet reached the phone.

"General," she said into the receiver, "we've got a problem."

* * *

Quatre: Wells, here's the next chapter. Enjoy! Don't forget to review! 


	9. Chapter Nine: Sorry to Rain on Your Para...

Quatre: Well, here's the next chapter.

Ame: I've finally shown up. Yatta!

Quatre: Where's mou hitori no boku?

Ame: Restraining Kenshin.

Quatre: Ah. #to readers# I've got a minor matter that's been bugging the hells out of me. You see, I followed someone's favorites list to a good Yugioh fic. But now, I can't find it. Sooo... whoever has a fic where Yugi gets kidnapped in the middle of the night and Yami calls to Bakura to help on their favorites list, please tell me. I'll be eternally grateful because I liked the fic and it's driving me nuts!

Ame: You're already nuts.

Quatre: So? Ah, yes. I'd like to wish my Beta, JK Fie'r, a late Happy Birthday. #streamers fly by everywhere courtesy of Gail and Kurai# Now, for everyone else, here's the next chapter! I would like to say that the explanation Yami gives in this chapter is completely made up by me. I don't know how much of it is true and how much isn't, but hopefully it'll make sense. Now, onto the fic!

* * *

Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as before.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Sorry to Rain on Your Parade**

* * *

"See!" Sam said as they entered the infirmary, nodding to the guards at the door. "I told you that something was off!" 

"Poor Yugi," Daniel said. "And he just entered the program, too."

"We'll free him," Jack vowed. "We will!"

Hammond was already there, standing a good three feet away from Yugi, or sitting, as it were. Yugi was lying in bed, his arms bound to the bed with padded cuffs. He looked deep in thought, plucking absently at the cuffs, staring at nothing in particular. Pain flickered across his features, but was immediately quelled.

"Everyone's here," Hammond said. "You can talk now."

Yugi continued to stare off into space.

"Hey, snake head, we're talking to you!" Jack called.

Yugi started and blinked, anger crossing his features. "I would ask that you not address me in that manner again, Colonel. I am not a Goa'uld, and never will be."

"You said you were going to explain something," Hammond prompted.

Yugi nodded. "I did. My name at the moment is not Yugi. My name is Yami. I was the pharaoh of Egypt, five thousand years ago. Do not speak," he commanded as Daniel began to voice a protest. "Allow me to continue. You see, ten thousand years ago, the false gods oppressed us. We had no means of fighting back, until the true Egyptian Gods, Ra, Osiris, and Obelisk, emerged from the Realm of Darkness that they'd been sealed in. They taught the ancient pharaoh of a magic capable of destroying the false gods, once and for all. The false gods were driven away, but not destroyed, for reasons unknown. Based on what I've learned here, I've come to the conclusion that the false gods are indeed the Goa'uld.

"For another five thousand years, the Gods watched over our kingdom. The pharaoh and his priests continued to wield the power of the shadows, using seven magic items to channel the dark energy. The puzzle that I am wearing is one of those seven, the Millennium Puzzle.

"When I became pharaoh, however, war started. There were some in my kingdom, on my council, that wished the power of shadows to be available for all the populace to use. They started a war, and I was forced to institute the Shadow Games. These games judged a person's soul. If they were found wanting, Amemait was called upon to eat the convict's soul. I am not proud, but it was necessary.

"Eventually, my high priest came up with the way to stop the Shadow Games and end the war once and for all. The Item Holders gathered in a temple, and we used our souls as sacrifices to seal the Shadow Realm, to make it separate from our world once again. However, my soul was split. Half of my soul was sent to the puzzle, and the other half continued on to the afterlife. Yugi, you see, is my reincarnation. He is the light. I am the darker half of his soul."

"I didn't know about him at first," a quiet voice joined in. Everyone turned to see a second Yugi in the room, sitting quietly on a nearby bed. The guards blinked twice and rubbed their eyes. "Grandpa gave me the Millennium Puzzle to solve. It took me eight years, but one day, a bully named Ushio was threatening my friends Honda and Jonouchi. He told me to pay him a lot of money, or he would kill me. I didn't have the money, and I started to work on the puzzle without really thinking about it. Before I knew it, I'd solved it. The next thing I knew, Ushio was being carted off to a mental institution because he thought everything was money."

Yugi looked up at Hammond and SG-1. "I blacked out a few times after that, and every time something would happen. I didn't realize there was another person inside of me until I attended Duelist Kingdom. Yami and I were sort of forced to meet each other, and we worked together to defeat Pegasus. After that was Battle City, where we had to stop the Holder of the Millennium Rod from gaining control of the Egyptian God Cards and thus the power to control the world. It was a gradual thing, but now Yami and I are best friends," he said with a sheepish laugh. "It wasn't until recently that we found out how to manifest in a separate body. Yami usually is the one to do this, while I stay in control. However, we thought it best that Yami stayed in control of the body, since his mental barriers are stronger than mine. He's the only thing keeping that Goa'uld inside his soul room."

Yami smiled at Yugi. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Yugi. However, I'm afraid I will not be in control much longer."

Yugi started, jumping from the bed and rushing to Yami's side. "I can try and stop him if you want!"

Yami shook his head. "I do not have the strength to keep him there. I have been thinking. The Goa'uld was under that particular carving for a reason. We should allow it to explain itself before I send it to the Shadow Realm."

Yugi looked uncertain, but he nodded. "What happened to our deck?"

They looked over at SG-1. Jack shrugged, still trying to wrap his brain around Yami's story.

"It's over there," Janet said quietly, pointing over to a small table. Yugi jumped up and retrieved it.

"Okay, Yami," Yugi said. "I'm ready." He turned to SG-1. "Are you guys ready?"

They nodded. Yami closed his eyes. The Puzzle glowed for a moment, and Yami appeared next to Yugi.

The body on the bed looked up with angry silver eyes. "It's about bloody time!" it yelled indignantly. "I thought I was going to suffocate in that hole."

The Goa'uld turned to SG-1. "Even after five thousand years, pharaohs never change. Hmph." He stuck his tongue out at Yami.

This took SG-1 aback. It wasn't everyday that a Goa'uld acted so... human, after all.

"Who are we addressing?" Hammond asked hesitantly.

"Oh!" The Goa'uld made to smack himself in the forehead, but found that he couldn't. "Forgive me for being rude, unlike some people I could mention. My name is Ame, and I and not a Goa'uld, thank you very much. I am proud to say that I am a Tok'ra. One of the first, actually. I got stuck in that rotten hole in the ground because the Council decided that I needed to be there if the pharaoh eventually came by. Something about having to help him save the world, or something."

Everyone blinked.

"I believe him," Yami said.

"How?" Jack asked. "He could be lying through his teeth."

"He is not closing his mind," Yami explained. "He is broadcasting his emotions freely, and as we all occupy one body, I can feel them." Yugi nodded confirmation.

"So Egypt did have a smart pharaoh!" Ame mock gasped. "By the gods, miracles do happen!"

Yami scowled and, imitating Ame's earlier gesture, stuck his tongue out at the Tok'ra. Yugi rolled his eyes, while SG-1 and Hammond sweatdropped.

"Sir?" Sam said, turning to Hammond. "With your permission, I'd like to call Dad and see if the Tok'ra can spare anyone to get the symbiote out of Yugi."

"Hey!" Ame protested. "Aren't you at least going to see whether I'm telling the truth or not?!"

"We will, but until then, you are staying right there," Jack said. "Don't try anything funny."

Ame rolled his eyes. "Like I could." He indicated the cuffs.

Yugi abruptly yawned. "I'm spent," he said tiredly. "I'm going back to my soul room for a nice, long nap." With that, he vanished, as if he'd never been.

Yami nodded to SG-1. "Good day." And he too vanished.

Ame blinked. "And Yugi's already asleep," he sighed. "I need to talk to the pharaoh. I'll catch you guys later!"

With that, Ame closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Hammond looked twice at the teen/Tok'ra and turned to the guards. "Didn't you see Yugi on the bed?"

The guards shrugged. "I didn't see him until just after he spoke," one of them said. "It's like he appeared out of thin air, sir."

Hammond rubbed his temples. "This is very confusing. Daniel, can you substantiate his claim?"

Daniel thought a minute. "I don't recall reading about any of this, but then again, those tablets we have do make some mentions of the 'Games of Darkness.' And that plaque that was on the wall of the corridor where Yugi fell had pictures of seven items, all but one with an Egyptian eye on it. His Puzzle is among those on the picture, surrounded by the other six. I have the pictures that we took from today. I can get to work on translating that wall, if you'd like."

"I'll call Dad, if that's all right, sir," Sam said.

"Yes to both of you. Jack, I want you and Teal'c to look through the SGC surveillance tapes. See if Yami or whatever his name is has appeared before, and when. I want to know if he's harmed anyone. From what I remember about those cases he mentioned, all of the victims went insane. There were quite a few around the Domino City area. Also, arrange to have Yami and Ame tested on the Zatarc machine, without Yugi present, preferably." As Hammond was giving out these orders, he shot a glance over at Yugi's sleeping form. He caught a ruby eye snap quickly shut as soon as he saw it. "And try and figure out a way to tell the three apart. I'm going to have a headache trying to talk to them."

"Sir, the Zatarc machine probably won't work," Sam offered. "It'll say they're lying even if they only leave one little thing out. Unless you want to know every detail, I would suggest a standard lie detector test or just waiting until the Tok'ra come."

Hammond frowned. "So what do you suggest?"

"Leave them here. They're restrained, and as long as there're guards they shouldn't be able to do anything. I do suggest we take their deck, though."

"Agreed."

* * *

Yami glared at Ame. Ame shuffled his feet nervously on the rough stones of the corridor separating Yugi and Yami's soul rooms. 

"You said you wanted to talk," Yami said finally.

"I do. Um... I'm sorry for barging in on you guys like this. It was really dark down there, in that cavern, and I'd only just woken up. I couldn't tell who or what was there and just acted on instinct." Ame bowed his head. "I'll leave if you want."

Yami stopped glaring, but didn't say anything for a few moments.

"You should apologize to Yugi, not me," he said finally. "I'm not the owner of our body."

"I will. Listen, what I said before was true. The council told me that I would have to help the Pharaoh should he pass through that place, and apparently, you have."

Yami frowned. "So you were the weapon that the tablets indicated?"

Ame shrugged. "Seeing as I have no idea what tablets you mean, I don't know."

"I'll let you look at the memory later."

"How kind of you."

Yugi poked his head out of his soul room. "You mind? I'm trying to sleep in here!" He vanished from the doorway, closing the door behind him with a firm snap.

Yami smiled. "I believe that was his half-asleep way of telling us to get some sleep. It has been a long day, and the next will be longer."

"No arguments from me," Ame shrugged.

They parted ways and soon the corridor was filled with snoring, courtesy of Ame.

* * *

"I think I have a way of differentiating between the three of them," Sam said while searching through SGC security tapes. She'd traded places with Teal'c shortly after contacting the Tok'ra. 

Jack, behind her, raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"Well, we've already noticed how Yugi's eyes change color every so often. I think that's when Yugi and Yami switched."

"If Yami was really there before," Jack corrected.

"Yes, sir. I believe that Yugi's eyes were red when Yami was in control. They go back to violet when it's Yugi speaking. Also, I noticed that when Yugi and Yami appeared briefly outside the body, it had silver eyes."

"So Ame's got silver eyes? Freaky," Jack muttered.

"Well, he didn't speak like a normal symbiote, that's for sure." Sam ejected the current tape and chose another at random. "I almost hope he is a Tok'ra," she added thoughtfully.

"Focus, Major," Jack warned.

Sam peered at the screen. "I think I've got something, sir."

Jack leaned over her shoulder and looked. The time stamp indicated it was shortly after Yugi's lie test. As the two officers watched, a second Yugi appeared and peered at a tablet. He motioned over to the real Yugi, who came over and read what the duplicate pointed out. The duplicate vanished, and Daniel walked in a few moments later. Yugi pointed to the tablets.

"That's when he figured out that the tablets came from offworld," Sam concluded.

"Seems that way," Jack agreed. "Get a copy of this and show it to the general."

* * *

"From what we can tell, Yami isn't a result of Yugi's accident on P4X-987," Sam said to the briefing room in general. "Security cameras have caught no less than three instances where Yami has appeared separately from Yugi. He even stayed the night before the mission in the same bed as Yugi, though I can't imagine why." 

The occupants of the chairs around the table looked thoughtful.

"So Yami claims to be the spirit of an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh?" Jacob Carter asked.

Sam nodded. "Daniel's been searching, but he hasn't found anything yet that could corroborate Yami's story."

"Well, I haven't found anything about a pharaoh named Yami," Daniel mused. "Hell, records from that period are rather scarce. It'll take time to search for everything."

"I have no doubt that you'll find something," General Hammond said.

"Well, until then, I should see what I can find out about this Goa'uld," Jacob said. "Where is it being held?"

"It's still in the infirmary," Jack said. "Apparently, all three of them are asleep."

* * *

Yugi was sitting on the bed next to Yami. They both glared at Ame, who was currently in control of the body. 

"Come on!" Ame complained. "Let me get out of here!"

"No," Yami said evenly. "You're the one who came in without asking, so you're the one stuck."

Ame pouted. "I said I was sorry!"

"Sorry," Yugi said. "You get to stay there."

Ame mumbled something and pouted.

Janet was watching the three-way staring contest with interest.

"Who's winning?" she asked out of curiosity.

None of them answered.

Ame abruptly jumped against his bonds and shouted "BOO!"

Yami jumped and blinked. Yugi giggled.

"Hah! I won!"

"..." from the three spectators who had just walked in.

"I don't think I need to ask who that is," Selmak said. "Ame, how did you manage this?"

Ame blinked and looked over. "Who's that?"

"Selmak," Sam answered.

"Ah. Ms. Stick-up-her-ass. Gotcha."

That earned him several incredulous stares.

"I pity you," Selmak said. "I have known no other Tok'ra like him, and he grated the nerves of everyone he met."

Sam shrugged. "They appear to be getting along just fine."

"Only because they know how to get out of here!" Ame complained. "I'm stuck strapped to the bed while they can run around and do everything I _can't_!"

Yami smirked.

"Okay, okay," Hammond said. "So you know him, Selmak?"

"Unfortunately."

"So is he good or bad?"

"He is a Tok'ra, if that's what you mean. However, we would be quite glad to let him stay here."

"I wouldn't let Yugi leave, anyway," Yami said, a hint of warning in his voice.

"So can you let me up yet?" Ame asked hopefully.

Everyone looked at Hammond.

"Fine."

"You're going to regret this," Selmak muttered.

Janet released Ame's cuffs. The Tok'ra bounced up happily.

"Finally! Now what?"

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Now you come with us and answer all of the questions we ask you," Sam said. "First, though, I suggest we get food."

Several murmurs of agreement.

* * *

Ame finished banging his chicken leg against the table imitating a drummer and grinned. "Wow. Can I have a set of drums when this is over?" 

"NO!"

Ame pouted. "Fine. What else is there?" Without waiting for an answer, he bounded up to the line and came back with several slices of different varieties of pizza.

Yugi looked on from his soul room as he idly tossed one of the stuffed animals that had previously been strewn about his soul room into the air from his comfortable perch on his bed. As in, he was lying down and had no intention of getting up anytime soon. "Yami, I'm getting a really bad feeling about this."

Yami, who had taken a seat at Yugi's feet, said nothing.

Ame's pleased surprise blasted them both.

Yugi sighed. "I believe Ame is now addicted to pizza."

Yami had an eyebrow raised. "That abominable round pastry creation?"

/Hey, don't dis it unless you've tried it!/

"I have, thank you. It's not to my taste."

A pout.

"Don't worry, Ame," Yugi sighed. "I won't stop you from eating pizza."

Happiness.

Meanwhile, in the real world...

Jack: I'm never taking Ame out for pizza.

* * *

Quatre: So endeth the 9th chapter of SSR. Kenshin is MIA, mou hitori no boku is in the hospital, #ducks a flying Trig book# Amon is being responsible and trying to get me to do homework, Gail is happily helping #ducks a Latin textbook# and I have a Trig test tomorrow. I need to finish everything, so I'll catch everyone later. 

Ame: Banzai! #leaps out of a third floor window into a pool that mysteriously appeared a few seconds ago#

Quatre: #sweatdrop# Kurai, go stop your friend from murdering himself.

Kurai: When will you get to work on my fic?

Quatre: Which one?

Kurai: LFHR

Quatre: Since when is that your fic?

Kurai: Hn. When will you work on it?

Quatre: I go home this weekend, and I'll be able to get the word document then. #steps out of the way of a horde of flying calculators# After that, it all depends on how much time I'll have. Remember, Kurai, I have homework to deal with, as well as a few other fics that I'm determined to not let go down the drain.

Kurai: Okay. #catches a flying ruler# Go do homework before Amon and Gail murder you.

Quatre: Ja, minna-san!

Kurai: Don't forget to leave a review!


	10. Chapter Ten: Why You Should Change Your ...

Quatre: I don't have much time to post this. I'm sorry that this is late; however, Trig and Physics are slowly killing me and most of my time has been occupied with homework. Gomen nasai. No notes for this chapter, so we'll just head right for the fic.

* * *

Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as always.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Why you should change your sheets.**

* * *

"I'm never taking Ame out for pizza," Jack said, edging slowly away from the Tok'ra.

"I do not blame you in the slightest, sir," Sam agreed fervently, as Ame somehow managed to fit two slices into his mouth at the same time.

Next to her, Jacob sighed.

"It's probably a good thing you're not coming back with us Ame. The Tok'ra do not have Pizza, something which I miss very much."

Jacob ate his own Pizza calmly.

"Dad, you hated Pizza before."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone, and all that, Sam. That aside, I think Selmak likes it a bit as well."

Jack spoke again.

"Okay. It's not just that Ame is insane, it's probably genetic."

Ame wolfed down a few more slices, and opened his mouth to protest.

"I'm not disagreeing with the part about me being insane, but why do I have to be related to her? She's mean!"

Jacob chuckled, and finished his own slice before speaking.

"You only think she's mean because she was the one to suggest you go down that hole for a millennia or so."

Ame considered the truth to those words for a few seconds, then shook his head.

"Nah, she was mean before that too. Younger sisters. Can't live with them, can't shoot them with a Zat and have done with it. And I'm not just talking about how fast she used to move, there's still that whole nonexistent population growth thing."

Sam looked at Ame in surprise.

"That's right. How-"

"One, I'm a Tok'ra, therefore I know about it. Two, I'm not a complete idiot - several parts are missing. Three, this Pizza is excellent!"

Everyone at the table sweatdropped as Ame jumped up and returned with a full plateful. He inclined his head slightly, then pouted. "Yugi wants some, too, so I'll chat with you nice people later."

He bowed his head, and Yugi looked up and grinned. "I must admit, Ame has wonderful taste," he commented as he picked up a slice and bit into it.

"Yugi..." Sam began.

The teen held up a hand and swallowed his mouthful. "Don't. I already know what you're going to say. I can never leave the program, I can never go back to a normal life, et cetera, et cetera. I know. My life wasn't exactly normal to begin with."

Jack grinned. "Sharing your head with an ancient spirit would tend to throw a wrench into the works, yes."

"Not to mention that at least three people have tried to kill me and take my puzzle," Yugi added. "I'm no stranger to strange circumstances, Jack."

"You used the word strange in two different contexts," Ame pointed out cheerfully, materializing next to Yugi and snagging a piece of pizza."

Yugi thought back, then nodded. "Yes, it appears I did."

Yami also appeared on Yugi's other side. "I have protected my aibou from harm this far, and now that you all know of my existence, I will be able to protect him to the best of my ability."

"Aibou?" Sam repeated.

Yami blinked. "Forgive me; I didn't realize I'd used that word. I'm at least trilingual, thanks to Yugi. Aibou means partner."

"Ah." Sam nodded understanding, covering her mouth to hide a grin.

Jacob's brow wrinkled in confusion. "Am I missing something?"

"Later, Dad."

"I think I should go to see the Tok'ra High Council, though, just so they can tell me I can stay," Ame said thoughtfully.

Jacob considered that for a moment. "Yes, perhaps that would be best. They would like to know that the pharaoh has returned. What I would like to know, though, is why."

Yugi and Yami shared a look, and both shrugged in unison. "Apparently, I've already saved the world," Yami said. "I don't know what else _to_ do."

"Saved the world?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

Yugi and Yami looked at each other and said simultaneously, "You do it."

Ame laughed. "How about 'rock, paper, scissors'?"

The glares he received didn't faze him at all, and he went back to munching pizza.

Yugi sighed. "We shoot on 'scissors'."

Yami lost, so he had to tell.

"Gather around, my children, and you shall hear," Ame began, snickering.

Yami glared at him for all he was worth before turning to Jack, Jacob, and Sam.

"I suppose I should begin with the history of Duel Monsters, as much of my tale revolves around the game..."

* * *

Yugi walked back into his room on base, all of his alternate personalities back where they should be, and flopped into bed with a groan.

"This day sucked," he moaned.

Then shot up again. "I forgot to call Jou! I promised him I would, and he's got to be frantic right now!"

Yami chuckled in the back of his mind. /You're exhausted, Yugi. I'm sure he'll understand if you get some sleep!/

Yugi nodded and fell forward, burying his face into the pillow.

He vaguely heard Yami and Ame talking, then Ame's presence in his mind was suddenly gone, the door opened and shut, and the bed dented as Yami appeared. He didn't protest as Yami picked him up and held him gently, just giving him something to lean against. Yugi sighed and closed his eyes, then smiled.

"You know, we never did get around to talking," Yugi said. "About how you feel about me."

Yami tensed up. He'd been hoping Yugi had forgotten, actually.

"As this is the only time we're bound to have alone for awhile, I suggest we talk," Yugi said.

There was a moment of silence. Yami released Yugi and moved away. Yugi propped up his pillows so he could lean against them.

"So?" Yugi prompted.

Yami's gaze fell to his lap. His hands began fidgeting again, and he clasped them tightly together.

"I love you," he said simply, gently. "I don't know for how long. I became aware of it during Battle City, when I thought that, several times, I was going to lose you."

Yugi nodded.

Yami looked up to see Yugi's reaction. Yugi looked puzzled, a frown pursing his lips together.

"You were truthful with me," Yugi said at length, "so you deserve to be told the truth. And that truth is, I don't know how I feel. I've always thought of you as my friend, Yami, and nothing can change that. I've just never considered liking you – liking anybody – in that way. I'll have to think on it."

Yami nodded, eyes falling to his trembling hands. He wasn't sure whether he was going to cry or not, and pharaohs did _not_ cry. Why he was going to cry, he wasn't sure. This was unknown territory for him, as well.

Yugi abruptly glomped him. Yami let out an undignified yelp as the two of them tumbled off the bed. Yugi got up and grinned. Yami mock-glared.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

Yugi winked. "You looked like you needed it. Besides, you're not going to cry anymore, are you?"

Yami blinked and realized that Yugi was right. He laughed, a genuine, heartfelt laugh, and reached out to wrap Yugi in a hug. Yugi let him, to his relief.

The mood was spoiled when Yugi yawned. Yami let him go with a chuckle and pointed Yugi in the direction of the bed, snagging his pajamas at the same time.

"Get changed and go to sleep," Yami said. "We have a big day tomorrow."

Yugi agreed and did as he was told. Yami tucked him in and was about to go back to his soul room when Yugi grabbed his sleeve.

"I don't think I would mind if you stayed out here for the night," he said hesitantly with a blush. Yami nodded and lay on top of the covers next to Yugi. Yugi rolled his eyes and shoved Yami off the bed long enough to pull back a section of blanket. "You're going to freeze your butt off if you don't," Yugi explained.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "I didn't have a problem before."

"It'll make me feel better. Get in."

Yami chuckled and complied, turning to face away from Yugi as the boy threw the covers over him.

"Oyasumi, Yami-kun."

"Good night, Yugi."

* * *

Ame poked his head into the room and saw two lumps curled up in the bed. He slipped in and closed the door quietly, then padded over to the bed to see.

He smiled.

Yami had managed to get his arms around Yugi and was sleeping soundly, his face buried in Yugi's spikes. Yugi was facing away from Yami, but his hand had crept up to rest gently against Yami's arms.

/I may be a joker, but I'm not without scruples. I'll tell them of my escapades later... or maybe not./

With a devilish grin, Ame nodded to his "landlord" and vanished back into his soul room.

He paced down the corridor, taking the time to think.

"Yami told me how to appear outside of our body, but I fully intended to appear as a snake, as that is my true form," he mused. "Why the Set did I appear looking like Yugi? Is it because of the Puzzle? Or is there something else to it?"

He reached Yugi's door and turned back to pace towards his own.

"Those tablets Yami showed me dealt with the Millennium Items and their history, and thanks to him I can understand them," Ame continued. "Those are rather interesting. I never got to see the mural that I was placed under, as I was rather preoccupied at the time. I never dreamed that magic was real, though the legends I'd heard of the Taur'i gaining their freedom seem to support the fact. I was on the other side of the galaxy at the time," he sighed, remembering. "I was a spy in Apophis' house, and he was busy taking over one of Ra's planets during that period. So, for all I know, magic could be real."

He turned again, then stopped. "Why am I thinking about this now? I need sleep too!"

He opened the door to his soul room, kicking aside various pranks without really thinking about it, and made his way to the bedroom part of his soul room. He scowled at the green and gold bedcovers.

"I will change those before the week is out," he vowed. "Why I haven't in 10 millennia, I'll never know."

* * *

Quatre: Hope you enjoyed and please review! 


	11. Chapter Eleven: Rats, Pliers, and PA Sys...

Quatre: I think this is late. I'm sorry about that. I'm so freaking tired I almost can't remember my own name, and homework isn't letting up at all. I'm about ready to shoot my trig teacher and I've got an interesting idea of a fanart of Bakura killing Mr. Burkman (my trig teacher) with Trig.

Yami Quatre: You seriously need sleep. You only plot murder when you're this tired.

Quatre: You would, too, and I know for a fact that you have several times, though it was quite fortunate that Ame talked you out of it.

Ame: I sat in on your trig class today. Was I really seeing a bowtie?

Quatre: Yes, Burkman wears a bowtie.

#Yami Quatre and Ame burst into laughter.#

Quatre: Now, before my brain melts, here's the ficcie.

* * *

Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as always, and the shameless plugging continues.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: Rats, Pliers, and PA Systems**

* * *

Yugi was chatting with Ame in their room on base, so Yami decided to go walkies. Now that the SGC knew about his existence, he had absolutely nothing to worry about in that quarter.

Purely on a whim, he decided to enter Daniel's office. He knocked, and got a groan for an answer. Figuring that it was okay, Yami opened the door.

Daniel Jackson was face down, fast asleep, resting his head on a book listing all known Pharaohs from Yami's era. Yami quirked a faint smile.

"Daniel Jackson, if you are trying to find out if I'm telling the truth, you shall not discover anything by looking through that."

Daniel's head shot up.

"I'm awake, I'm awake."

Yami sauntered over to where the archeologist sat, and leaned against the desk.

"You're looking in the wrong books for this, Daniel. In fact, you're looking for the wrong name. Try Atemu, but I doubt you'll find much under that name either."

Daniel rubbed at his eyes blearily, looking up at the spirit.

"Huh? How'd you guess-"

"You have hardly been seen since I told you about myself, and this office seems like it is made of list books. That, and I overheard the General telling you to do this. Let me commend you on your work thus far, but it is getting you nowhere. There are few tablets that mention me, and fewer people who can read them."

"What do you suggest then?" Daniel asked, sounding like he was pouting. He wasn't, but that didn't change the voice.

"I suggest you try and contact a Miss Isis Ishtar, of the Cairo Museum. Tell her that mou hitori no Yugi told you. She'll understand better than any of the others," Yami sighed slightly, and continued. "Out of those who understand the tablets, one of them is Isis, one is Isis' brother, and he's heavily grounded, one is loyal to the first two, one won't talk unless I tell him to personally, one doesn't believe in it, one is less than forthcoming about anything at all, and two are trapped under a mountain. I'm assuming that Ame can now read them as well, so that makes three of us under a mountain. I'm almost positive that Pegasus couldn't read them, and he's missing, presumed dead, in any case."

Daniel continued to stare at Yami.

"Well, go on then. Have fun, I won't stop you," Yami added after a few seconds of silence, getting up from his lean.

Daniel waited a few more seconds, then moved his chair over to his computer, and started requesting files on Isis.

Yami walked out of the room, still smiling slightly to himself. It still might take Daniel a while to convince Isis.

A few minutes later, he set off to find a computer with an internet connection – highly rare inside the mountain – so he could send an e-mail to a certain blonde Egyptian.

An hour later, the email was sent and Yami was bored. He wandered around the base, nodding absently to people who greeted him, until he ran into one Colonel Jack O'Neill.

"Colonel," Yami acknowledged.

"Yami," Jack greeted. "How have you been? Has Ame been bothering you?"

Yami shook his head. "He's actually being civil to me and Yugi, although I can't say the same for others."

Jack winced. "Yeah. He reminds me of a fictional character named Duo Maxwell."

"_Gundam Wing_?" Yami confirmed. "Yes, I've heard of it. Jou has watched it several times."

Jack grinned. "Shall we walk? We're blocking the hallway."

* * *

Yami turned the corner, still talking to Jack.

"So, what exactly made you and the others start believing me before?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, we looked through our security tapes. Found you'd been seen three times before the mission."

Yami blinked once.

"Security tapes?" he repeated, feeling a slight sense of worry trickle down his back.

"Yeah. See, look over there," Jack pointed at a small, unobtrusive camera, set high in the wall. "There's one of the cameras. Actually, I'd been meaning to ask you something. The third time, you spent the night in Yugi's bed."

Yami didn't let any reaction show on his face.

"Continue," he said simply.

"Well, see, Sam and I have this bet going. She says that he was worried about the mission, and that you were making sure he was all right. I, er, think... that... er... you were... you... you like Yugi, don't you..."

Jack trailed off at the look that had suddenly come over the former Pharaoh's face.

"I see," Yami growled out, restraining quite a bit of anger. Apparently some of it must have shown on his face though, because Jack was looking more than a little scared by then. "If you must know, your answer is correct. Although I don't know about Yugi. Happy now?"

"Ah. Right. So... can I tell Sam that I won the bet?" he asked, before taking in the look on Yami's face again.

"Lemme guess: Omae o korosu?" Jack said, gulping slightly as Yami deathglared him. Yami nodded slowly.

"You're gonna have to catch me first!" Jack declared, and ran off. Yami chuckled at the Colonel's retreating form.

"Final proof that _Gundam Wing_ can be bad for you."

Daniel nearly walked past Yami at that moment.

"Don't ever say that in front of Jack. Actually, speaking of Jack, where'd he go?" Daniel enquired, balancing several rolls of paper and a cup of coffee. Yami gently took a few of the rolls from Daniels arms, so he was free to drink the remainder of the coffee without the risk of dropping anything.

"He ran off when I deathglared him. Why?"

"Ah. That explains why you just said that. He's wanted in the briefing room. Come to think of it, so are you three."

"Why not have it announced on the PA system?" Yami asked, resisting the urge to look through some of the rolls of paper currently in his arms.

"Oh, it's down at the moment. Something about faulty wiring."

A mental image of Ame and a pair of wire clippers filled Yami's mind.

_It would be exactly the sort of thing he'd do,_ Yami mused silently.

"How do you mean 'faulty'?" Yami said, hoping his tone was innocent.

"Oh, we found some rats down in the lower levels. God only knows how they got there. Anyway, they'd gotten into the PA. Made a right mess of it."

"Oh. Right then. Well, let's get going. I'll ask Yugi and Ame to catch up to the Colonel."

Daniel's face burst into a relieved grin.

"Thank you!"

/Um, Yugi, Ame, have either of you seen Jack?/

/Yeah, he just ran past. Why?/ Yugi asked.

/Catch up with him. We've got a meeting in the briefing room, and he's wanted there too./

/What's up with the PA system?/ Ame asked innocently.

/Rat's nest./

/Got him!/ Yugi called across the link.

* * *

"But Jack, you've got a meeting!"

"Is Yami going to be there?"

Jack paled at Ame's calm nod.

"If Yami's going to be there, I don't wanna be there!"

"Why is that, Jack?" Yugi said, concerned.

"He's angry at me. The last time I saw him he looked like a spiky-haired and red-eyed version of Heero Yui."

Yugi laughed out loud.

"Is that what you're afraid of? You've faced down far worse than my Yami."

"Yeah, but all of the System Lords consider me a minor nuisance. Yami's really angry at me!"

/Yami, did you really deathglare Jack?/

/Yes. Why?/

/You've got him really scared, that's why!/ Ame crowed.

/Tell him I'm not actually angry at him, although I do think it would be a good idea for him to stop watching so much _Gundam Wing_. Maybe a little bit of _Digimon_ in his diet wouldn't go amiss. Any series./

Yugi giggled again.

"Yami says he's not really angry with you. He does suggest that you watch a little less _Gundam Wing_, though."

Jack clutched at his chest as though he were mortally wounded.

"Don't say that, not even joking. Fine, I'll come to this meeting, but if he attacks me, I'll consider you partially responsible."

* * *

General Hammond waited in his chair at the head of the table in the briefing room.

/How long does it take an archaeologist to find four people?/

He rethought that.

/Do I count Yami, Yugi, and Ame as the same person or different people?/

/What am I thinking. They're all different. Although it remains to be seen as to how Yami and Ame get along./

The door opening distracted him, and he turned to see Jack and Yugi walk into the room. Jack hesitated, glancing around the room furtively.

"Has Yami shown up yet?" Jack asked Hammond.

"No, Colonel. Should he have?"

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Yami deathglared Jack and now Jack's afraid that Yami will hurt him."

"With good reason!" Jack protested.

"Sit down, Colonel. Yugi, tell Yami not to do anything to Jack until I know what's going on."

Yugi went a rather interesting shade of pink. "Uh... That's a rather... personal matter, Hammond-sama. Let's just say that Jack pried into my and Yami's personal life and Yami didn't like it very much."

Hammond raised an eyebrow at that. "All right, I can respect that. How long until Yami arrives?"

Yugi cocked his head. A minute later he replied, "He's in the elevator with Daniel. They don't know where Sam or Teal'c is."

"We're right here," Sam said, coming in just then with Teal'c and Jacob directly after.

Yugi paused for a few moments, assumedly telling Yami that Sam had been located, before taking a seat next to Jack.

Yami and Daniel walked in a few moments later. Yami nodded to everyone before vanishing.

"Is Ame here?" Hammond asked Yugi. Yugi nodded. "Very well. The subject of this meeting is to determine what we should do with Yugi now that he has acquired Ame. Selmak is sure that the Tok'ra High Council will allow Ame to remain with us, although I don't know in what capacity, which leaves us to deal with the situation."

"I don't mind continuing to work with you," Yugi piped up. "I just want to know if I'll ever get to go back outside, or visit my friends in Japan, or go to Duel Monster tournaments."

"Well, seeing as you managed to keep Yami a secret from everyone for a while, I'm sure that I could convince the President to let you go back to your hometown for a visit every once in a while. Hell, I'm sure we could convince him to let you live off-base."

"Erm..." Yugi looked a bit uncertain. "Yami wasn't exactly a secret from _everybody_. My best friends knew about him, as well as those who are associated with the Millennium Items."

"How many people, exactly?" Jack asked.

Yugi counted them off on his fingers. "Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, Seto, although he doesn't believe in magic, Mokuba, Ryou, Malik, Isis, Pegasus, although he may be dead, Otogi, Rashid, Mai..." He had to think. "And you guys, I think, are the only ones who know. Not even Grandpa figured it out." He blinked. "I forgot about Shadi! Although he knew about Yami long before I did myself."

"That's not too bad, sir," Sam said. She turned to Yugi. "How many of them found out by accident?"

"Jou, Honda, Anzu, Bakura, Mai, and myself," Yugi said. "I told Seto, because I was trying to save my friends at the time. Isis already knew, and Malik... yeah, he found out the hard way. Pegasus... He certainly didn't expect Yami to show up, so that makes another. We told Duke, and Mokuba was there when I told Kaiba."

"And Rashid?" Daniel asked.

"He works for Malik, so I assume he found out from his boss."

"Who's Bakura? And Kaiba?" Sam asked.

"Kaiba is Seto and Mokuba's last name," Yugi said. "Bakura... well, let's just say that I'm not the only one possessed by the spirit of an Ancient Egyptian."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You failed to mention this before."

"I know. Ryou is the holder of the Millennium Ring, which held the spirit of an Ancient Egyptian Tomb Robber. He swore to obtain all of the Millennium Items, and managed to steal the Millennium Eye before Yami caught up to him."

"Still," Sam mused, "that's only a dozen or so people. Not too bad, sir," she said to Hammond. "As high profile as Yugi is, the whole world could have found out about Yami by now."

"It's a miracle no one has," Daniel said.

"You did not even notice when Yugi and I switched," Yami put in. Everyone blinked. No one had noticed when he'd traded places with Yugi. "The only differences between Yugi and myself are minimal. The most noticeable is my eyes. I also tend to let Yugi handle most of the everyday things, such as school."

"All right," Hammond nodded. "I'm sure we can trust you to stay hidden, but what about Ame?"

Yami bowed his head, and Ame looked up. "I may seem like an idiot, but I'm not stupid. I know what could happen if I revealed myself to the world at large."

"So..." Hammond trailed off, searching for the right words. "How many people are going to find out about you, Ame?"

Ame bowed his head, and Yugi looked up. "Jou, Anzu, Honda, Mai, and Otogi, most likely," the teen mused. "I'm loathe to leave them out of the loop, as that could leave them in danger. They certainly won't tell anyone. Ryou, probably, as Bakura is nosey. Actually, it may be best to tell all of the Item Holders eventually. But only them."

"And can they be trusted?" Teal'c asked.

"I'd trust Jou with my life, and have once or twice. Anzu, Honda, and Otogi are the best friends I've ever had," Yugi said levelly. "Bakura will try to kill me again, that's perfectly normal, but he may be put off by the fact that I am the vessel of one of the false gods of legend, and he'd certainly do nothing to compromise his position, including telling anyone of Ame's existence if Yami made the consequences clear."

"I believe that the fact that they've kept Yami a secret vouches for them, General," Daniel said.

"Agreed," Hammond said. "Now, you're aware that this all hinges on what the High Council says, don't you?"

Nods.

"I'm authorizing a mission to the Tok'ra base tomorrow. Until then, I want Yugi and Daniel to work on translating the writing from 987. Anyone want to add anything else?"

Silence.

"Very well, dismissed."

Everyone stood. Yami appeared next to Yugi and went off on his own. Yugi called something in Japanese and followed. Daniel caught up to Jack and Teal'c, and Sam left with Jacob.

Hammond sighed and rubbed his temples. This job was enough to give him a headache.

/I need coffee./

* * *

Yugi caught up to Yami just as the pharaoh reached the elevator.

"Are you mad at me or something?" he asked the spirit in Japanese.

Yami shook his head. "No, Yugi. I'm sorry, I'm just concerned."

"About what?"

"Many things. I've already explained to you why I deathglared Jack. I'm still mad that there was a camera in our room, which undoubtedly means that there's a recording of our conversation last night."

Yugi smiled. "It's ok, Yami. You can always intimidate security into keeping silent."

Yami had to grin. "That is an option, but I'm thinking of just talking to General Hammond. I don't like the thought of no privacy. Especially if..." And, amazingly, he blushed. Yugi did, also, once he figured out what Yami meant. Ame snickered in the back of Yugi's mind. Yugi scowled.

/Ame, this is a private conversation. Out. Now./

/But...!/

/Ame, go. Now./ Yami's tone promised dire consequences if Ame didn't leave this instant.

Ame pouted but left at the next floor. An awkward silence descended between Yugi and Yami, continuing until they reached the floor where Daniel's office resided.

"Would you like some help with the translation, Yugi?" Yami asked as the doors opened.

"Please."

They walked to the office and found the pictures from 987, then got comfortable. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Quatre: Don't forget to review, no da. Ja! 


	12. Chapter Twelve: Meeting the Folks

Quatre: I'm finally on time with an update. Go me! Anyways, there isn't really very much left to say except that we're drawing close to the point where updates will cease to be semi-regular.

Yami Quatre: So?

Quatre: I don't want people mad at me!

Yami Quatre: Ah, yes. Well, if you don't want them to be mad at you, stop playing video games!

Quatre: But Kingdom Hearts and Tales of Symphonia are awesome games! How can I just stop playing them?

Yami Quatre: I'm hiding the PS2 and Gamecube when we get back from the extended weekend.

Quatre: blows raspberry

Yami Quatre: And now to the fic!

* * *

Warnings and disclaimer are the same as before, and the shameless plugging goes ever onward!

* * *

**Chapter 12: Meeting the Folks**

* * *

Yugi woke up from a dream about racing marshmallows (a souvenir from Ame, no doubt) and slapped his alarm clock off. Ame grumbled, and Yugi got the feeling of someone rolling over and pulling a pillow over his head. Yami was awake at once, though he wasn't quite able to suppress a jaw-cracking yawn.

"Up and at 'em!" Yugi grinned, imitating Jack. Yami chuckled, and Ame groaned in protest.

/Whoever invented alarm clocks should suffer,/ the Tok'ra growled.

/Now, now, Ame. We're off to see the Tok'ra,/ Yugi admonished.

/Can I stay here?/ Ame asked hopefully.

/What's the point of going if you're not?/ Yami asked reasonably.

/Fine. Wake me up when we get there./

Yugi rolled his eyes and changed into his Battle City outfit. Ame was asleep again, naturally, and Yami was busy poking him.

Yugi raised an eyebrow as he put on his Duel Disk. /Yami... Why are you poking Ame?/

/Because he's not awake,/ Yami said matter-of-factly. He went back to his soul room and got a fishing rod.

/Ame's been here too long already,/ Yugi thought privately with a shake of his head. He went to the bathroom and headed for the cafeteria. There, he gulped a few mugs of coffee and ate cereal with toast and a glass of orange juice.

/So when are we leaving?/ Yami asked, bored with poking Ame.

/Jack's supposed to tell us,/ Yugi said. /Stay here in case it's soon./

/What time is it?/ Ame asked fuzzily.

/0930,/ Yugi informed him.

/Ok. I'll go back to sleep. And Yami, don't poke me. It's highly annoying./

Yugi almost spurted juice out of his nose. Almost.

"Dr. Mutou to the briefing room, Dr. Mutou to the briefing room," a voice rang out from the PA.

Yugi dumped his tray and headed for the elevator, fishing for his keycard as he went. He'd gotten one upon arriving at the base, of course, only now he could go pretty much anywhere on base.

The elevator arrived with Jack and Sam. "Ohayou," Yugi greeted with a smile.

"Good morning, Yugi. How are you?" Sam asked.

"Yami appears to be getting along fine with Ame, in that he's acquired a sense of humor somewhere in the middle of the night," Yugi shrugged.

"Heero? With a sense of humor?" Jack chuckled. "There goes the neighborhood."

"Heero?" Sam asked cluelessly.

"Don't ask," Jack and Yugi chorused.

"Ame's still asleep," Yugi continued. "And Yami's fine."

They reached the right floor then, and they trooped out and headed for the briefing room. They met the rest of SG-1 and Jacob there. Hammond walked in at the same time.

"Everyone, take your seats," Hammond said. Yugi took a seat next to Daniel across from Jacob. "Jacob has contacted the Tok'ra. They're expecting us at1200 hours." Hammond eyed Yugi's clothes. "Are you really going to wear that?"

Yugi shrugged. "It was the first thing I got my hands on this morning."

"Anyway..." Hammond continued. "I don't think you all need to go. Daniel, you stay here and continue working. Teal'c, you can stay or go. Colonel, Major, you go with Jacob and Yugi."

"Is that all?" Jacob asked.

"That's all. Be ready to leave at 1130. Dismissed."

Everyone stood and wandered out.

/That was pointless,/ Ame said.

/You're awake now?/ Yami asked.

/Only just. Hey, can we watch TV?/

/Sure. Let's find Jack. He has _Gundam Wing_./ Yugi grinned and caught up to the colonel. "Hey Jack!"

Jack turned. "What?"

"What anime do you have?"

At 1100:

"Baka neko!" resounded throughout the base. People got out of the way of a certain Tok'ra being chased by a laughing Yugi.

"Try and catch me!" Ame taunted. "I am the mouse, you are the cat!"

"Bugger," Yugi huffed. "I'll catch you sooner or later!"

Ame got on the elevator and waved at Yugi as the doors closed. Yugi mock scowled.

/Now THAT was fun,/ Ame grinned. /Let's ask Jack if we can watch more _Fruits Basket_ when we come back./

/I'm not sure that would be a good idea,/ Yami said wryly. /You seem to have scared several people into thinking they were nuts./

Yugi called the elevator back and boarded. /Meet us in the control room,/ he told Ame.

/All right./

The elevator stopped to let Daniel on. Yugi grinned up at him.

"You've been watching anime," Daniel guessed. "Jack gets that look on his face after watching a marathon."

"What look?" Yugi asked innocently.

"That happy 'Let's go see who we can torment' look. You wouldn't happen to be Ame, by any chance?"

"Nope. You just missed him. He's meeting us in the control room." Yugi sighed, the smile dropping from his face. "I'm nervous about meeting the Tok'ra," he admitted.

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"Ame and Jacob seem pretty sure that the High Council won't want Ame around. I'm not so sure, though. I don't mind working with the Stargate program," he explained. "I just don't want to leave Earth and my friends behind completely. I'm not sure I'd be able to handle it."

"You handle weird stuff everyday," Daniel pointed out.

"Yes, but I've had people to talk to, friends to count on. From what I know, Ame's a sort of Tok'ra black sheep. That means people may avoid me, too. Sometimes I just have to talk to someone, and no one may want to. It'll be like the time before I solved the puzzle. I had no friends, and everyone bullied me." Yugi's gaze dropped to the floor.

"It'll be okay," Daniel assured him. "Don't worry. Everything will work out."

"Hollow words, Daniel-san. We cannot predict the future," Yugi said forlornly. He lapsed into silence.

/I did not realize you felt that way,/ Yami said quietly.

Quiet reassurance. /I'll be fine, Yami-kun. Don't worry./

Yami couldn't help but worry, though.

The elevator doors opened just then, and Yugi followed Daniel to the control room. Ame was waiting, as promised, and vanished back into his soul room.

It was 1130. Yugi left the control room and went to the Gate Room, where Jack, Sam, and Teal'c were waiting with Jacob.

/I can handle this if you'd prefer,/ Yami suggested to Yugi.

/I'll be fine, Yami. Don't worry./

Yugi's response was automatic, lifeless. Yami's worry grew, but he respected Yugi's wishes.

"Yugi, go get a radio," Jack ordered. "Then we can leave."

Yugi turned and walked to the airmen with the radios. He wasn't given a vest, at his request, and he tucked the radio inside his jacket.

"Ready," he said simply when he returned.

Jack signaled the Gate Room. The Stargate began moving, chevrons locking into place. The wormhole opened.

"After you, gentlemen," Jack said graciously to Jacob and Yugi. "Tok'ra first so we don't get shot at."

Yugi managed a small smile and walked up the ramp and through the gate with minimal hesitation. He emerged onto a desert planet with nothing visible for miles except sand and scruffy bushes. Jacob was right behind him, and SG-1 followed shortly after.

"This way," Jacob directed, motioning for everyone to follow. He led them to a hill about a mile from the Stargate. There was nothing remarkable about that hill. Unless you counted the Tok'ra hiding in the sand around the peak.

Yugi watched them nervously, but they only studied him curiously.

"Over here," Jacob said. They all gathered in one place on the peak.

"What's going to –"

Rings of stone erupted from the sand, surrounding them and engulfing them in a blinding light.

"Happen?" Yugi finished weakly. He was suddenly not on the surface anymore.

/Home sweet home,/ Ame sighed. /I have no idea what planet we're on, but if you've seen one Tok'ra tunnel, you've seen them all./

/They're pretty,/ Yugi admitted, his fears lost in admiration for the moment.

The rings had deposited them all in a crystal tunnel. It was a light blue color everywhere he could see, and people dressed in brown desert clothes walked about, talking or reading. No one paid them any attention.

/SG teams are common here,/ Yami guessed.

/Seems like it,/ Yugi agreed.

"This way," Jacob directed. SG-1 followed him through the tunnels, Yugi trailing slightly behind, taking in the sights.

They walked into a room dominated by a large table that could seat at least a dozen people. There were several Tok'ra waiting already.

"Welcome," one of them, a woman, said pleasantly, standing to greet them. "Which of you is Amemait?"

"Me," Yugi said politely. "I am Dr. Yugi Mutou, though."

"May we speak to Ame?" the woman asked.

Yugi crossed his arms, inclining his head. "I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Ma'am. I do not know your name."

"I am Freya, host to Anise." She bowed her head respectively. "Now, may I speak to Ame?"

/Ame, she wants to talk to you,/ Yugi said.

/I know, I know./ A heavy sigh. /Okay, I'm ready./

Yugi relinquished control to Ame, settling down on his bed in his soul room to listen. Yami leaned against the doorframe, also listening.

Ame grinned at Freya. "So. Anise chose a female host, like usual. I must admit, her taste isn't half bad."

"Has this boy accepted you?" Freya asked.

"He's not cursing me out and condemning my soul to Amemait. He's still mad that I came in without asking-"

/I'm not!/ Yugi protested.

/Yami is,/ Ame explained. /I don't think you want them to know about him, right?/

/Jacob already does,/ Yugi pointed out.

/I'm sure he'll keep the secret if we ask,/ Ame said. /Selmak was a nice person, after all./

"Ame?" Freya asked.

"Sorry," Ame said. "Talking to Yugi. He says he's not really mad, not anymore. Anyway, he doesn't mind letting me stay."

/I may mind,/ Yami muttered. Yugi chuckled.

"All right. Please let us talk to Yugi." Freya sat down at the table and motioned for everyone else to do the same. Yugi took control and sat across from Sam.

"Jacob has informed us that you wish to remain on Earth, is that correct?" Freya asked.

Yugi nodded. "I have close friends and family that I don't wish to leave behind. I feel that working with the SGC will be the best way to protect them from the Goa'uld. I'm only a teenager; I'm not cut out for the kind of field work Ame tells me you do."

"We will talk with the High Council. Until then, feel free to explore the base and interact with other Tok'ra. Perhaps you'll change your mind."

/We'll certainly explore. I've talked with some SGC personnel; they have a habit of leaving things out when it's convenient,/ Yami said.

"All right." Yugi smiled. "When do you want us back here?"

"We will send someone to find you," Freya assured him. "We shall assign you quarters should the discussion last into the night."

"Thank you," Yugi said sincerely. "Your hospitality is appreciated."

Freya stood and left with a nod. The other Tok'ra sans Jacob followed her. Yugi turned to Jack. "Yami says that the Tok'ra have a habit of leaving out information. How often does this happen?"

"Oh, fairly often," Jack sighed.

Yugi turned to Jacob. "We're all agreed on not wanting the Tok'ra to know about Yami. Will you keep him secret?"

"All right. I'll be obligated to tell the High Council if it becomes necessary, but I'll be sure to tell you about it first," Jacob sighed.

"Thank you, and thank Selmak as well," Yugi said with a smile. "Now, what about this place? Where are all the hidden nooks and crannies, and, most importantly to Ame, where's the food?"

* * *

"This place is amazing," Yugi admitted after a guided tour. He'd been shown where his quarters were (he didn't like not having a door, though) and Ame had been quite pleased to find out where the mess hall was. He attracted a lot of stares with his outfit, but Yugi didn't notice. He was too busy taking in the entire Tok'ra base.

"Well, you'll have a lot more time to enjoy it," Freya said, coming up behind him and Jacob. There was something different about her, though, something that puzzled Yugi. "The High Council has determined that you are to stay here as an operative of the Tok'ra."

Yugi frowned. "And I don't have a choice in the matter? This High Council has total control over my fate?"

"I'm afraid so."

/That's Anise, her symbiote,/ Ame explained to Yugi. /I could talk like that if I wanted to, but what's the point?/

Yugi glared at her. "You never had any intention of letting me stay on Earth at all. This was all a farce." His glare wavered as despair washed over him.

/I'm never going to see Jou or Anzu again.../

Yami took over, crossing his arms and leveling a dark glare at Anise. "It is not wise to deceive one who would be your ally, Anise-san. Now, why is it you have denied my request?"

"We have so few agents as it is. You would not have to go on missions. However, if you were to work in my department, it would free up another Tok'ra for undercover assignments."

"I see. You think only of the whole, not of the individuals." Yami's eyes narrowed.

"Not at all. We care for our operatives, but sometimes it may be impossible to save one in the hands of the Goa'uld," Anise countered.

"I do not like being manipulated. However, as it seems I have no choice, I will do as you command," Yami said coldly. "If you need me, I shall be in my quarters setting up some modicum of privacy."

"You will be free to return to Earth to bid farewell to your family," Anise said. "However, it is late. We must sleep. We shall send you tomorrow."

Yami said nothing, only glaring at her. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"SG-1 is, of course, welcome to stay as well," she added. "We have prepared rooms for you as well."

"Good day," Yami said curtly, turning on his heel and stalking away.

/This is one time I wish you would judge them in a Shadow Game,/ Yugi muttered under his figurative breath.

/That will not be necessary, Yugi,/ Yami said calmly. /I have a plan./

/Oh?/ Ame perked up. /Do share./

/No. That way, if they should ask, you knew nothing about it./

/Plausible deniability,/ Yugi said. /I like it. Just don't hurt anybody./

/I will try not to, Yugi. No promises./

/This is going to be good,/ Ame said cheerfully.

* * *

Quatre: Please review! Email me with any questions, and I'll attempt to answer without giving away the plot.

Yami Quatre: There's a plot?

Quatre: Urusai!


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Houdini, Where Art Tho...

Quatre: Wow. You all must really like this fic. It makes me highly happy. Now, since this chapter is really short, I'm going to be nice and have a double update. I didn't realize how short it was until just now, actually. Sooo... Enjoy. And for everyone who wants a Shadow Game, I must apologize and say that sadly, nothing like that happens.

Read and Review please!

* * *

Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as always, no da.

* * *

**Chapter 13: Houdini, Where Art Thou?**

* * *

Yugi didn't get much sleep at all that night. He couldn't help thinking of Jou and Anzu and Grandpa... Everyone he would be leaving behind should he be unable to convince the Tok'ra High Council that he should be left on Earth. For one, brief instant, he considered ignoring Yami and sending the entire Council to the Shadow Realm. Then he chastised himself.

He settled for pacing in his soul room. Well past midnight, he couldn't stand being alone anymore and went to Yami's soul room. To his surprise, Yami was lying awake as well.

"Welcome, Yugi," the pharaoh greeted, sitting up in his bed and clasping his knees to his chest. "What brings you here?"

"I just can't help thinking about everyone I'm being forced to leave behind," Yugi sighed. "I feel betrayed by some people I've never even met in the first place!"

"You are not alone," Yami agreed. "Ame was convinced that the Council would gladly leave him on Earth due to his particular nature. He does not wish to be here any more than we do."

"Do you think you can do something about it?" Yugi asked.

"I do not know. I may be able to, but it will not be easy."

Yugi smiled. "Thanks, Yami."

Yami crossed his legs Indian-style and pulled Yugi into a hug. Though surprised, Yugi let himself be held gently in Yami's arms. The pharaoh rested his head on Yugi's with a sigh.

"I do not like seeing you unhappy, Yugi," Yami said. "I will do what I can to get the Council to change its mind.

"I know," Yugi said. He felt his eyelids drooping. Somehow, he couldn't manage to stay worried here. He smiled to himself, losing himself in the feel of Yami's arms around him.

He was asleep within seconds.

Yami felt Yugi drift into sleep and smiled. Yugi needed the sleep, after all, and what he'd said was true. He would do what he could to make Yugi happy.

He gently laid Yugi on the bed and covered both of them up, turning away determinedly. To his surprise, it was Yugi who curled up next him, draping an arm over him and sighing contentedly. Yami rolled over and gathered the boy in his arms.

Yugi _had_ made the first move, after all.

He also drifted into sleep.

* * *

Jack walked into Yugi's room at 0900 the next morning. "Yugi, Ame, one of you, wake up!" 

It was Ame who turned over and blinked at him. "Quelle heure?" he asked sleepily.

"I'll tell you when you'll actually remember it. Get up. We're getting ready to leave for Earth."

Ame nodded. "I'll wake the Terror Twins."

"Hurry. We're leaving in an hour."

Ame jumped up and pulled his shoes on, not bothering to brush his hair, as it wouldn't make a difference anyway. "Lead me to food. I'll wake up Yugi."

Jack rolled his eyes but grabbed Ame's arm and gently steered him down the corridors.

Meanwhile, Ame went to Yugi's soul room but found no one there. With a knowing grin, he went to Yami's soul room and peered into the bedroom quietly.

Sure enough, there was Yugi, wrapped up in Yami's arms so tightly that Ame suspected he would need a crowbar. Ame grinned, wishing he had a camera. The two together were just too cute.

"Oi, sleepyheads, we're leaving for Earth in an hour, so wake up and smell the coffee, if the Tok'ra have discovered coffee yet." He paused. "Probably not, and a damn shame too."

Yugi shot upright, Yami's arms still around his waist, blinking furiously. "What time is it?" he asked fuzzily.

"Jack wouldn't tell me. Now, get Sleeping Beauty up, too," Ame said. "I've got some food to eat."

He left the soul rooms just in time to be plopped down in a chair. He grinned up at Jack and jumped to his feet, dashing for the food line. Jack rolled his eyes and sat down, watching Ame terrorize the cooks with a chuckle.

/If anything, that'll make the High Council regret keeping Yugi,/ Jack noted with amusement. /Mental note: Be sure to tell them "He told you so."/

Ame came back to the table with the Tok'ra equivalent of cereal and coffee. "Breakfast of champions, I'm telling you," he said to no one in particular. Jack had a strong feeling either Yugi or Yami was intangible in the room right now.

And he was right. Yami was peering at the food dubiously. "Are you quite sure this is all right to eat?"

Ame nodded, shoving some into his mouth. /Try it for yourself, if you're so curious./

Jack watched Yami take control and sample the food cautiously, nodding a grudging approval. Ame took control again and proceeded to inhale his breakfast, coffee and all.

"You'll get sick like that," Jack admonished.

"Only if I go swimming, and that's unlikely in the desert," Ame countered happily. "Okay. Now tell me what time it is and how long until we leave."

"It's 0930. Come on. Anise is coming back with us, supposedly to arrange things with General Hammond, though I suspect it's to keep an eye on you."

"Paranoid, I'm telling you," Ame muttered, but he followed Jack to the Transport rings and ringed to the surface. They made good time to the Stargate. Everyone was waiting for them, sans Jacob, who had business on base. Anise was standing a little apart from SG-1, though.

Ame pointedly ignored Anise. "Good morning, Sam!" he greeted. "Wonderful day, isn't it? You think we'll be able to go out for pizza?"

Sam grinned. "It depends, Ame," she said truthfully.

He pouted. "Well, we're burning daylight just standing here! Let's go!"

Teal'c dialed the gate. Ame was the first one through it, barely giving Sam time to send the IDC code. Jack couldn't help his chuckle as he stepped through the gate.

"I'm going to go to my room and pack," Ame said to Sam a tad sadly. She gave an understanding smile and shooed him off.

/Okay, Yami, go for it,/ Ame said cheerfully.

Yami took control of the body and moved swiftly through the SGC corridors, reaching the elevator in record speed. Then it was only the matter of waiting for the elevator to arrive, then waiting for it to climb to the appropriate level.

Finally, though, they were at Yugi's room on base. Yami packed everything with quick efficiency and set it on the bed.

Ame appeared in his own body and jumped on the dresser, cheerfully disabling the security camera perched innocuously in the corner. Then he went back to his soul room as Yami tapped into the powers of the Millennium Puzzle and opened a vortex. He tossed all of Yugi's baggage into it, then laid a note on the bed for SG-1 to find.

With a final look around, he stepped into the vortex.

* * *

Bakura Ryou woke up with a start when a vortex opened up in the middle of his bedroom. He was reaching for the Millennium Ring when luggage popped out of the vortex. He blinked and wondered if he was still dreaming. 

Then Yami Yugi stepped out of the vortex as well, and it closed behind him. Ryou rubbed his eyes.

"Am I dreaming?"

Yami chuckled. "No, I'm afraid not, Ryou. Things in America got complicated and I had no choice but to flee. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get some sleep. Creating that vortex wiped me out."

Without warning, Yugi's face broke out into a grin. "So you're Ryou, huh? Yugi's told me a lot about you. Ok, so I looked at his memories, but I think Bakura and I could get along real well."

Ryou sweatdropped. "I'm going back to sleep. When I wake up, this will be a dream." He lay back down and drew the blanket up over his head.

"Okay then. I'll just take my luggage to my room. Or is it Yugi's luggage to his room?"

Thumping noises indicated that stuff was being moved around. When Ryou looked again, his room was empty.

"Now that's the weirdest that's ever happened to me," he sighed, rolling over and closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

* * *

Quatre: The next chapter awaits! 


	14. Chapter Fourteen: What do you mean, ther...

Quatre: The second chapter of my double update. Enjoy!

* * *

Warnings and Disclaimer as the same as ever before, and even more shameless plugging awaits.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: What do you mean, "There's three of you?!"**

* * *

Ame tossed the luggage into the room Yugi pointed out and flopped onto the bed. A quick check of the clock on the bedside table told him that it was only around 0200, and most sane people were asleep at this hour.

/So, Yugi,/ Ame said conversationally, /are there any pizza places open at this hour?/

In his soul room, Yugi shook his head. /Not that I know of. Besides, we don't have any money./

/So what can we do?/ Ame asked.

/Sleep. I'm tired enough to,/ Yugi yawned. /I didn't get much sleep last night./

Ame pouted. /I slept, though,/ he complained.

/Then walk around town in your spirit form. Don't talk to ANYONE, though. Just explore. This is your chance to discover all of the pizza places,/ Yugi added.

Ame was caught. /I'll see you in the morning!/ he said cheerfully, appearing next to the bed and going through the floor in his spirit form. Yugi took control of the body and kicked his shoes off, tossing his jacket on the desk chair. He curled up under the blankets and sighed contentedly. It didn't take very long at all for him to fall asleep.

* * *

"What is taking Dr. Mutou so long?" Anise asked impatiently. She was sitting tensely in a chair in the SGC briefing room, hands folded on the table in front of her. "I told the Council we'd be back before now!"

"He's a teenager," Daniel shrugged. "He probably hasn't found everything of his yet."

"It doesn't matter. We must leave soon. I am going to get him. Will one of you escort me to his quarters?" Anise stood and looked at the members of SG-1 pointedly.

"I'll do it," Daniel sighed, standing also. They made their way to Yugi's quarters as fast as they were able. Anise knocked firmly on the door.

"Gather what you can, Dr. Mutou, we must leave at once," she called.

No answer.

"Dr. Mutou, if you do not answer, I will come in," she said.

Again, no answer. Anise scowled and opened the door.

The room was empty. Daniel stepped in and took a good look around. There was nothing, not even luggage.

"Where is he?" Anise demanded, rounding on Daniel. The archaeologist put his hands up to ward off the verbal assault that was soon to come.

"I don't know," he said. "This is as much of a mystery to you as it is to me."

He noticed a square of white on the neatly made bed. He walked over and picked it up. It was labeled, "To Anise."

"I believe it's for you," he said dryly, handing it to the Tok'ra. She took it and unfolded it, eyes scanning the words.

She growled, handing the note back to him to read.

_I promised Yugi that he would not be forced from Earth. I've kept this promise. We've no intention of hiding from you forever. This is only to show you that you and the Council can force us to do nothing. Once you've accepted this, ask one of the Taur'i to send an email to Yugi. We will get it, and return._

It was signed "Mou hitori no Yugi."

"What does that mean?" Anise asked angrily. "The signature?"

"The other Yugi," Daniel said truthfully. And it was true; he'd looked it up.

Anise looked murderous. "The Council shall hear of this," she promised vehemently. "We will find him, and the punishment shall be severe."

She turned sharply on her heel and walked out. Daniel snickered quietly, tucking the note into a pocket and following the Tok'ra.

* * *

Ryou raised his head as he heard footsteps by his temporary room.

"Grandpa, what're you doing up so early on a Sunday?"

A dark chuckle from the other side of the door.

"Good morning to you too Ryou." Yami opened the door to Ryou's bedroom and leaned casually against the doorframe.

"...And here was me thinking that that was a dream. Okay, what happened in America to make you come back via the Shadow Realm?"

"Put on the Ring. Bakura may wish to hear this one as well."

Ryou sighed, got out of the bed, stretched slightly, and grabbed a pale blue dressing gown. It was, surprisingly, fluffy, and had a little bunny on the pocket.

Yami raised an eyebrow. Ryou caught the look, and smiled wryly.

"I'm having breakfast before I even think of waking him up."

"...Actually, no, it's the bunny that 's got me, I'm afraid."

Ryou wrinkled his nose.

"My father gave it to me. Sometimes I wonder if he knows I'm a guy. I mean, first he gives me the Ring, which just happens to look like a necklace, and then he sends me this dressing gown, wrapped in, would you believe it, pastel pink paper and a cute little bow. It probably doesn't help that the only pictures he has of me all have me with long hair."

Yami couldn't help it. He collapsed against the doorframe, sobbing with laughter.

Ryou watched calmly, then stepped smoothly over the former Pharaoh.

"Now, if you're quite finished having a good old giggle at my expense, you can get up, and help me with breakfast."

Yami continued laughing. Ryou shook his head as he made his own way down the stairs.

"Ohayo Yugi-kun. What happened in Ameri...ca..."

There were two Yugis in the room, and Ryou could still hear Yami's laughter coming from upstairs.

"Good morning to you too, Ryou-kun." Yugi 1 said calmly, sipping at a steaming mug of something that smelt like coffee. The second Yugi was rummaging through the fridge.

"Hey, do we have any Pizza in this place?"

Ryou sat down heavily.

"No, I don't think we do. Besides, I don't think that's a very nutritional way to start the day," he said numbly.

"Pity. Oh well."

"On the other hand, I think we may have some chocolate pudding on the top shelf, if Bakura hasn't gotten to it on a midnight snack raid," Ryou added, before Yugi 2 could pull his head out of the fridge.

"Banzai!"

Yugi 1 raised an eyebrow as Yugi 2 – who had silver eyes, Ryou noticed – closed the fridge and headed to the cutlery drawer with his bowl of chocolaty goodness.

"You consider chocolate pudding to be a nutritional breakfast?" Yugi 1 asked, before downing the rest of his coffee.

"We're guys. There's a certain rationalization ability that comes with the territory. It's like Jelly Doughnuts. They hold four of the five natural food groups, yet still people consider them to be bad for you," Ryou replied, recovered enough to make a slight joke.

"I should never have shown you that cartoon," Yugi 1 muttered.

"I should never have introduced you to Garfield, so we're even. Now, will somebody please tell me what's going on? Who's this guy? What, you go over to America and discover some random long lost twin of yours, Yugi?" Ryou's voice was demanding now, although there was still that slight underlying confusion.

"No, he went to America, went through a gateway to another planet, the original Earth name of which I've never bothered to learn how to pronounce, but is now more commonly referred to as the Stargate, whereupon he was taken over by yours truly, so that he now has two other people inside his head. After that, my people decided that they wanted him to live with them, making me stay with them as well, on another planet. Naturally, Yugi, Yami, and I, all disagreed with this course of action, in my case because my people do not know the meaning of Pizza, and so we came back through the Stargate, packed our bags, and arrived here shortly afterwards. You may call me Ame, and no, I was not kidding about anything I just said, particularly not the part about the Pizza. Now, where's Bakura? I wanna start planning pranks on Yami now."

Ryou stared dumbly at Yugi 2 for a long while before Yugi 1 sighed and pushed a cup of coffee into his hands. "It's all true, Ryou. Now, what has gotten my other half to suffocate himself upstairs?"

* * *

Ryou was long gone to school a few hours later, leaving three very bored people trapped in the house. Fortunately, Grandpa had ignored Ame on his way to the store, which saved Ame another round of explanations. Unfortunately, that didn't change the fact that there was nothing to do.

Ame located an anime on TV and plopped down onto the sofa, bored. "When does your school get out?" he asked Yugi. The teen was currently dueling against Yami a few feet away.

Yugi checked the clock. "In an hour. Then it'll take a few more minutes for Ryou to get home."

Ame groaned, flopping sideways on the couch as he dropped the remote. "Why can't we go out?"

"We'll go out after we finish dueling," Yugi sighed.

Ame cheered.

Forty minutes later...

"Are you two still dueling?!" Ame asked incredulously. He'd sat up and was currently engrossed in _Gundam Wing_, which he'd managed to find on tape.

"We've both got 100 life points," Yugi assured. "Although I don't know how much longer this will last. Sorry, Ame."

The Tok'ra pouted and turned back to the show. He was watching the episode where Quatre went nuts The only problem with that little tidbit was the fact that it was bordering on eight times having completed the episode. "At least this is fun."

The front door opened just then. "I'm home!" Ryou called. "I brought Jounouchi because he was worried about you, and everyone else just... followed."

Ame raised an eyebrow at the large group of teens currently filing into the room. "All of them?"

"Yeah."

Yugi waved at them. "Hang on, just one more move..." He turned back to the game, frowned at his hand, then placed a card on the field. "I win."

Yami frowned at the field, then sighed. "Nicely played game, Yugi." He gathered up his deck and turned to Katsuya Jounouchi. "It's been a while, Jounouchi. I trust you've been well?"

Jou shrugged. "I've just been worried about you guys. Speaking of which... Why are there three of you?"

"Oh, I'm sure Ame will explain quite eloquently," Ryou said cheerfully. "I'll get the drinks, you guys get settled in." He vanished into the kitchen.

Anzu Mazaki, Hiroto Honda, Kaiba Seto, Kaiba Mokuba, Mai Kujaku, Ryuuji Otogi settled onto the various pieces of furniture scattered around the room. Jounouchi stared at Ame.

"Would you stop that?" Ame asked finally. "I feel like a specimen ready to be autopsied by Anise, and that's creepy."

Jou blinked. Shrugged. Sat next to Anzu.

And Yugi told the story of what had happened in America. All eyes turned to Ame.

"Stop that!" he said. "Really. I feel Anise behind me with a scalpel, I'm serious."

"So why do you look like Yugi instead of like a snake?" Otogi asked suspiciously.

Ame shrugged. "Dunno. Can we go get pizza now? I'm starved!"

"Ah, yes, one thing I forgot to mention," Yugi grinned. "Ame is addicted to pizza, and it's probably genetic."

"PIZZA!" Ame whined.

Yami glared at him. Ame eeped.

"Quatre!" he whined to Yugi. "Heero's deathglaring me!"

Yugi and Yami shared a raised eyebrow. "We're not anime characters, Duo. Now get in here and we'll go for pizza." Yugi couldn't help the smirk.

"If you're Quatre, then we need a Trowa and Wufei," Yami muttered to Yugi as Ryou came back out with drinks for everyone and Ame vanished.

Yugi looked at Kaiba. "I've found Wufei."

/And the big bad Jaffa is Trowa!/ Ame said eagerly.

"Dear lord, we're dubbing Gundam pilots," Mai rolled her eyes. "Okay. You've got an alien in your head. Can't be much worse than Yami, right?"

"We've dubbed Ame as Duo for a reason," Yami said pointedly. She raised an eyebrow, then understood.

"Oh..." She sipped her drink. "And I thought the mutt was bad."

Jou glared at her. Yugi smiled behind his glass.

/It feels good to be home,/ he said to Yami.

/Glad someone's home,/ Ame muttered. /My home's several hundred thousand light years away./

Yugi wrapped him in a mental hug. /It's okay, Ame. You're free to sleep over any time you like./

Ame grinned. /Thanks, Yugi./

He turned his attention back to the real world in time to see Bakura and Yami start arguing. He sweatdropped.

/Joy./ "No Shadow Games in the living room, people, and especially with living people!"

* * *

Colonel Jack O'Neill was not pleased.

"How the hell did a scrawny little kid like him manage to get past all of our security, especially with luggage?!"

Sam couldn't help her smirk. "We managed it, Colonel, though we didn't have the luggage." She frowned. "How did he manage that?"

"Well, I just got an email back from Yugi's friend Isis. She said that she'll be here shortly to tell us what she can about Yami, though she didn't say why she had to be HERE," Daniel said. "I wrote her about their little disappearing act, too, and she warned me that they could be anywhere in the world. She seems to know how they vanished, Jack, so when an Egyptian woman dragging along a boy carrying a golden rod stops at the gates, let them in."

Jack blinked at him. Opened his mouth. Then shut it again. "Hmphm."

"I'll take that as an okay. Has Anise been able to find Yugi?" Daniel asked Sam.

"She says no, although the Tok'ra called and said that one of the Goa'uld ribbon devices was missing." Sam rolled her eyes. "I can guess who took it."

Daniel cocked his head. "I suspect he may have been behind the PA, too, when it broke down."

"Is there nothing that kid won't do?" Jack asked incredulously.

"If he's anything like Duo Maxwell," Daniel said, deadpan, "then he doesn't lie."

Jack and Sam slowly turned towards him. "You've watched _Gundam Wing_?"

Daniel nodded. "Jack left a tape at my house one day. I watched it. I've been stealing tapes so I can finish the series."

Jack stared at him. Looked away. "We've all officially cracked."

"Not until you write what humans call 'fanfiction', O'Neill," Teal'c said, walking in. "I, too, have seen _Gundam Wing_."

The rest of SG-1 stared at him.

"I'll start making the signs," Sam suggested.

"I'll make the phone calls," Jack sighed.

"And I'll get the guns," Daniel said.

"That won't be necessary," Hammond said, an amused note in his voice. "You've still been unable to locate Dr. Mutou, I take it."

"Not a single hair points to where he is," Jack said. "Sir, I suggest a homing beacon next time."

"Noted," Hammond said. Shook his head. "How the hell did he manage this?"

"No idea," Jack, Sam, and Daniel chorused.

Hammond sweatdropped. "Ame is contagious, it seems."

* * *

Quatre: Hope you enjoyed and please review! 


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Never Piss Off Ame

Quatre: Sorry that this took so long. I was waiting for JK's okay to post this, but she never said anything, so here it is. Updates will cease to be regular from this point forward.

And to "Ame is Kawaai...PIZZA!!!!"... Ame is pronounced "Ah-meh". Ah as in what you say at the doc's office when he or she is looking at your tongue, and meh like in the word may, just without the i at the end. If you're familiar with Japanese pronunciation, "Ame" is also the Japanese word for rain.

Ame: What? Since when did that happen?

Gail: Since the original Shadow Stargate. Trust me. I read it.

Ame: Huh?

Gail: Never mind.

Quatre: And if the person who reviewed in "Conversations of Irrelevance" also reads this, an "ADD poster child" is a kid who's on medication for ADD, but still acts like an ADD kid anyway. I can't explain it any better than that.

Yami Quatre: In other words, picture Ame without the pathological pranking.

Quatre: #nods# Sooo... on to the fic!

* * *

Warnings and disclaimer are the same as before.

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Never Piss Off Ame**

* * *

Life settled into something resembling normal in Domino City. Yugi went back to school, like usual, although he was hard-pressed to keep Ame from pulling pranks on the teachers.

"Oh, this is the life," Ame sighed, taking control of the body at lunchtime. He leaned back to prop his feet up on the table. It was a week after their escape from the SGC. "Why haven't the other Tok'ra found out about this yet? Maybe they'd stop acting like they've got sticks up their butts for once."

Jou shot him an odd look, then smacked his forehead. "Sometimes I forget about you," he sighed.

Ame raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm hurt, mon ami. Am I really that forgettable?"

Jou looked at him sideways. "I'm sure it's just wishful thinking."

Ame pouted and blew a raspberry at him before plopping his feet back on the ground and reaching for Yugi's lunch. "Yugi tells me it isn't pizza, which is a travesty in and of itself, so I think I'll leave him to eat it. Ja."

Yugi took control of the body and sighed. "Don't mind him," he assured Jou. "He's just worried about Anise and what she'll do to him."

"Ah, the Une wannabe, right?" Jou affirmed. "I'd be scared, too."

/We're not making it all that hard to find us,/ Yami noted from his random wanderings of his soul room. /All she would have to do would be to look at your school records./

Yugi chuckled. /I think they're looking for the most chaos around Colorado Springs./

/I'm not that bad!/ Ame protested.

/Yes you are!/ Yugi and Yami said at once.

Jou nudged him. "Anything enlightening going on in there?"

"Ame's claiming he's not as bad as Duo. Would you agree?" Yugi asked, finally getting around to unwrapping his turkey sandwich and taking a bite.

Jou shrugged. "He's about as bad as Bakura in a good mood," he said.

"Which is still pretty bad," Anzu said, sitting down and opening her lunch.

Ame pouted. /I don't think I'm talking to you anymore./

Yugi and Yami laughed at him.

* * *

"Any luck?" Jack asked Sam, handing her a cup of coffee.

Sam sighed, rubbing her eyes. Search results scrolled down the SGC computer screen, the results of several days of fruitless searching throughout databases everywhere in Colorado.

"Nothing. Nobody matching his description booked any flights, which means he's still around here somewhere. I just can't for the life of me figure out where."

"And there's nothing on the security tapes," Jack said, frowning. "This kid is good."

Sam sipped her coffee, then frowned. "I have to admit, sir, it's unlikely that we'll be able to find him."

"And has Anise had any better luck?" Jack asked.

Sam shook her head. "According to Dad, the High Council's having fits over this. Apparently, they wanted something from Yugi other than his symbiote."

Jack raised an eyebrow at that. "And what could be more valuable than a Tok'ra?"

"Dad doesn't know for sure, but it has something to do with that pendant Yugi wears around his neck," Sam reported.

"What's so special about it?" Jack wondered.

Sam shrugged. "It appeared to be made of solid gold, sir, so I can't begin to guess as to what the Tok'ra would want with it."

Jack was prevented from responding by the phone on the wall. Sam set her mug down and answered it.

"Major Carter here." She listened, then nodded. "All right. We'll be right up."

"News?" Jack inquired.

"Daniel's friend Isis showed up, towing a rather disheveled young man named Malik along for the ride," Sam said, her voice betraying her amusement though her face remained serious. "Apparently, Malik does carry a golden rod with him everywhere."

"Okay, that brought to mind something I didn't want to see," Jack said, rubbing his temple. "I take it we're to go meet them?"

"Yes, sir." Sam turned to the doorway, then whirled around and grabbed the coffee mug. Jack grinned.

"After you, Major," he said graciously. Sam rolled her eyes and led the way out of the room.

* * *

Isis Ishtar sat calmly in the comfortable chair she'd chosen after their escort had left them in this room. "Malik, you must be patient. They are sending Dr. Jackson even as we speak."

Malik Ishtar glowered at his older sister, the Millennium Rod clutched firmly in his fist. "Why can't I brainwash even one of them and find out what's going on?" he demanded in Egyptian.

"Because the Pharaoh ordered us not to," Isis said simply. Malik scowled and stalked around the large table that dominated the center of the room.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," a balding man in a white uniform shirt said pleasantly, followed by four people dressed in the more common uniform that Isis and Malik had seen on their way down. "I trust you had a good trip?"

"Please dispense with the pleasantries," Isis said coolly. "There is no need for them here. I am Isis Ishtar, servant of the Pharaoh. This is my younger brother Malik." She stood and bowed.

"Che," Malik said noncommittally, taking a seat next to his sister. The SGC personnel sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"I am General Hammond," the balding man introduced. "This is my second-in-command, Colonel Jack O'Neill." The man with graying hair nodded. "Major Samantha Carter." The woman smiled and nodded. "I trust you know Dr. Daniel Jackson. The last member of the group is Murray."

Isis smiled slightly, a small, knowing smile. "You need not hide what truly goes on here, General. Yami told me everything, including the fact that he has been infested with a false god. I have come here to tell you of Yami's origin, to tell you that he is, truly, the pharaoh returned."

The group of Americans blinked at her. "You can't be serious," Sam said. "It's impossible."

"Oh, she's quite serious," Malik said dryly. "Only the pharaoh could have stopped mou hitori no boku from taking over the world, although his pet hikari didn't help matters much." He snorted. "And only he could have gotten the Ring back from me."

"Okay..." Jack said uneasily. "I'm staying away from the psycho kid."

"Yugi told us that Yami's spirit was contained within the puzzle," Daniel said to Isis. "He said that Yami was released when he finished the puzzle."

"It's the truth," Isis confirmed. "Now, the Pharaoh told me to wait here until his return. I've given you all of the information you seek, yes?"

Five heads nodded.

"Then I shall return to my hotel, unless you should like us to remain on base?" Isis stood, straightening her dress.

General Hammond glanced at each of those at the table. "We'll be glad to provide you with temporary quarters," he said pleasantly. "Dr. Jackson will escort you."

The archaeologist smiled and stood. "If you'd follow me...?"

Isis merely walked ahead of him. "Come, Malik. And don't 'get lost'."

Malik scowled and followed his sister.

Jack ran after them, catching them at the elevator. "You wouldn't happen to know where Yugi went, would you?"

Malik grinned. "Can I answer, Isis?"

Isis inclined her head.

"He's back home!" Malik exclaimed. "Ame emailed me a few days ago complaining about how boring it was stuck in a game shop."

He walked into the elevator and grinned widely. Jack could only stare as the elevator doors closed.

* * *

Jou sweatdropped as Ame raced around the local arcade.

"And this was a good idea why?" Otogi asked, stepping back lest he be bowled over by the hyper Tok'ra.

"Ame was bored," Ryou answered, voice sounding only a little strained. "He started playing with Bakura's knives, then proved to my other half that he could use them much better. Bakura is currently off sending some unfortunate bullies to the Shadow Realm."

"And Yami's letting him?" Otogi asked incredulously.

"According to Yami, 'It's either that or risk Bakura trying to kill Yugi again,'" Ame supplied cheerfully, pausing to grin cheerily up at them. "I never want to leave. This place rocks!"

He raced off again. Otogi stared after him. "And I thought Jou was bad!"

Jou mock-glared. "I'm standing right here, you know."

Otogi shrugged. "Sorry."

They managed to drag Ame from the arcade at closing time. Ame pouted and let Yugi take over the body.

"Finally," Yugi sighed. "He locked me in his soul room. It's an amusement park in itself, but after being ambushed by rubber Goa'uld ten times it gets kinda redundant."

"I don't want to know," Ryou said quickly.

Yugi and Ryou left Jou and Otogi a block from the Game Shop. Yugi's grandpa greeted them from behind the sales counter.

"Did Ame have fun?"

Yugi nodded. "A little too much fun, if you ask me. I think I may be banned."

Ryou snorted. "Banned? How about shot?"

Yugi whapped him lightly in the arm. "He only ran around like a hyper little kid the whole time."

Grandpa chuckled. "I'll hear more about it around dinner, I'm sure. Go wash up. Dinner's on the stove."

"Hai!" the two teens grinned, dashing for the stairs. Ryou made it first, with Yugi close behind.

Then the doorbell rang.

"Ryou, Yugi, could one of you get that?" Grandpa called.

"I will!" Yugi called, whirling on the stairs and heading towards the back door.

He opened it to find an assortment of Americans on his doorstep.

"The store was closed, and I figured there was a back entrance to your house," Daniel Jackson said apologetically.

"So you finally figured out where I was?" Yugi said, grin falling from his face. "How?"

"A little Egyptian with a penchant for jokes told us," Jack O'Neill supplied. "Can we come in?"

"Sure," Yugi said, stepping aside. "Grandpa's in the store. It should be safe to talk here for now."

SG-1 and Anise stepped into the hallway.

/May I?/ Ame asked Yugi as the teen closed the door behind their guests.

The switch was instantaneous. Ame turned to face SG-1 with a grin.

"Aw, J, you bought Une and Trowa along with you? This is just too much. What'll happen next, Treize gonna pop out from behind a tree or something?" the Tok'ra quipped in English.

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"I get that Hammond and Treize have the same original hair color, but nothing else about him seems to scream 'evil dictator'. We'll have to find him another name," Jack replied easily, doing his best to forestall any arguments between the two Tok'ra before things got really problematic.

Sam opened her mouth to say something to this pronouncement, but was quickly cut off by Ame.

"Not a word Dorothy, not a word."

The major was, of course, baffled by this, so shut her mouth before Ame could make some comment about attempts to catch flies.

"Amemait, you will come back with us-"

"Not a hope in Set, Une-chan. You can't make us go back to the Tok'ra. I could pull age-rank on you. Set, I could do that to the entire council. You're all younger than I am. I know this may come as a bit of a shock to you, _sister dear,_ but I talked to some of the others on base. Anybody and everybody who was older than I am are all dead. They died a long time ago. Even our Queen, our very mother, no Okaa-san, may she find her peace at last, died recently. There is literally no one who I'm going to take orders from. We're staying on Earth. If you have a problem with that, so be it. I'm staying with Yugi, and he wants to stay here. I'm sure you can appreciate the logistics here."

Anise looked, quite frankly, furious.

"Amemait-" she began, but was cut off by a soft and faintly accented voice.

"Yugi? What's going on?" Ryou asked in Japanese from the top of the stairs. If that were possible, the look of fury on Anise's face intensified.

"Someone has been listening?" she demanded, still in English. "I hope for your sake, Amemait, that he cannot understand this language," she started to threaten, as Bakura took over from his Hikari.

"Sorry. I understood every word of that," he said in English.

Anise came out with a few expletives in Egyptian that had Daniel sputtering, and Yugi and Yami dissolving into helpless giggles in Yami's soul room.

Bakura chuckled darkly.

"Now, now. You really shouldn't use such language. Yugi is listening, after all, and he is just seventeen. You might give him ideas," he said smoothly in Egyptian, moving swiftly down the stairs. Daniel and Teal'c raised their eyebrows.

"Danny? Translation?"

Daniel regained himself.

"Um... He just told Anise not to use such language around Yugi, as he's only seventeen."

"I also said that she might give him ideas," Bakura added, using English for the benefit of his audience.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Anise demanded angrily, the Egyptian words slurring together with the force of her rage. Bakura descended the stairs and leaned against the wall next to Ame, arms crossed defiantly.

"Yami has told me that you know of my existence," Bakura shrugged. "Or, at least, he told the Taur'i. Ask them."

The Millennium Ring fell from the collar of his shirt, as if by accident. Daniel squinted at the pendant before understanding dawned.

"You're the Tomb Robber, aren't you?" he asked, using Egyptian as well. Needless to say, Jack was starting to get irritated.

Bakura applauded. "Smart man." He switched his gaze back to Anise. "Well? I assume that you are Anise. I'd like to see you do anything to Ame right here."

The Tok'ra glared at him. Ame grinned.

"Well, this conversation is getting old fast, my friends. Yugi is hungry, Yami is getting irate, and Grandpa is sure to ask what's going on. We'll meet you in the park in an hour, okay?"

Anise glared venomously but nodded. "Be prepared to leave."

"Now what have I told you about ordering me around?" Ame scolded. "Now shoo." He waved his hands at the group in a shooing motion. "We'll talk later. Until then, FOOD!"

SG-1 left the building perplexed. Bakura grinned evilly.

"We do make a good team," he said to Ame with a slight bow of his head. "I look forward to working with you in the future."

With that, Ryou was back in control. The teen blinked. "What's Bakura done this time?"

Ame grinned. "He helped me tell off Anise. I like him. Can I keep him?"

Both Yami and Bakura made incoherent noises of protest from their respective soul rooms.

* * *

Jack paced around the sole streetlight of the park closest to the game shop. "When is he going to get here?"

Anise was still fuming. Teal'c watched her with a faint smile on his face.

"He said he would meet us here, O'Neill. We have no choice but to trust him," the Jaffa said in response.

Jack shot a glare his way and kept pacing.

"Hope you haven't been waiting long," a familiar voice called out of the darkness. SG-1 turned to see Yugi and Ryou walking down the path towards them. Yugi grinned. "Ryou wanted to come, and he knows all about the program anyway. Also, I called Seto Kaiba and told him where I would be, and he's been told to call the police and my Grandpa if I don't call back by tomorrow morning."

Jack's estimation of the kid went up a notch. "So we can't just kidnap you, eh?"

Yugi nodded, a serious expression settling onto his face. Ryou was scanning the area, presumably looking for traps.

"That was the general idea, yes," Yugi affirmed.

"You must come back to the Tok'ra," Anise said vehemently. "You cannot argue with the council."

Violet turned to garnet in the blink of an eye. Jack stepped back. Yami was _pissed_.

"I can and I will," Yami growled. His tone would have made a normal person sink to his knees and beg forgiveness. Unfortunately, Anise was a Tok'ra.

"If you do not comply, I have been authorized to terminate you," Anise said.

Yami's eyes narrowed. "That I cannot allow."

Daniel tiptoed up to Jack. "I say we step back. Fur may fly," came the near-silent whisper from the archaeologist.

Jack nodded agreement and sought refuge behind Teal'c.

Anise pulled a ribbon device from her pocket and pulled it on. "You can do nothing to stop me."

She raised her hand. A golden blast echoed throughout the park.

Yami jumped over it, alighting on the lamppost. Garnet eyes flashed silver, and the wind picked up around the group. Lights outside the park dimmed, encasing SG-1, Anise, and the Japanese teens in a cocoon of darkness lit by a single lamp.

"You have trespassed into my soul," came the pronouncement on the wind. "Now you must play a game."

Jack shivered. "This wasn't in the job description."

Anise raised her hand to fire another shot, but darkness swallowed the gold. She cried out in surprise and shrugged out of the ribbon device, gold falling to the cement with a dull clank.

Yami descended to the ground and stood nose to nose with the Tok'ra. "This game is simple," he said.

Suddenly, Yami wasn't alone. Duplicates of himself, Ame, and Yugi filled the darkness.

"There is only one true me. You must find it. Beware, though. If you choose wrongly, you must play a penalty game."

Anise scowled. "I will not play this 'game' of yours."

"Then you will forfeit and play the penalty game anyway."

Ryou smirked, hair looking almost like demon horns in the pale light of the lamppost.

"Yami's voice doesn't sound right," Daniel whispered to Jack so that only he, Teal'c, and Sam, who was clutching Jack's hand nervously, could hear. "It almost sounds like Ame."

"Ame's voice isn't that deep, though," Sam said.

Ryou poked Daniel. "Pay attention, and you'll see why not even I mess with Yami."

Anise looked around at all of the silent figures. "It's impossible to choose you out of these."

"Not if you listen to your heart," Yami/Ame's voice whispered.

Anise scowled but strolled through the group, peering directly at each and every one of the duplicates. It seemed to take hours, but finally, Anise stopped in front of one of the Yugis.

"This one," she said.

"And why is that?" Yami/Ame asked.

"Because only this one feels human," Anise said.

All of the rest of the figures disappeared save for two. The Yugi that Anise had indicated shot an apologetic look her way before turning and walking over to Yami/Ame.

"You fail," the darkness declared, silver-speckled garnet eyes studying her closely. "I did not ask you to find Yugi. I asked you to find _me_."

"But you are Yugi!" she protested.

"I am both Ame and something more, something that you cannot understand," Yami/Ame countered. "You did not trust your feelings. You searched only for human, not for the darkness, as you should have."

Anise stepped away from the teenager. "This game was unfair!"

"In the Shadow Games, a person's true nature is revealed," Yami/Ame said simply. "You only exist within a certain set of boundaries, refusing to look outside of those boundaries for fear of what would happen. Your nature only allowed you to search for a human, when it was clear that I was not. You fail."

An Egyptian eye shimmered into being on the teen's head. He held out his hand to the Tok'ra.

"Only you failed the game, Anise, so only you shall be punished," Yami/Ame declared solemnly. "_MIND CRUSH_!"

A blinding gold flash enveloped the darkness. The spectators were forced to shield their eyes. Anise cried out in pain.

When everyone was able to look again, the park was back where it belonged. Anise was crumpled at Yami's feet, and Yugi had vanished.

* * *

Quatre: For those who were looking for some Shadow Game action, I hope you liked this! I can't say when the next update will be. It all depends on JK. I don't like posting stuff without my beta's approval. She gets...

Ame: Ansty is a good word for it.

Yami Kenshin: Irate is another good word.

Gail and Kurai: We're not stupid enough to mess with a female Jedi!

Quatre: Exactly.

Everyone: Jaaaa!


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Nightmares Suck, Don't ...

Quatre: Sorry for the wait, minna-san. My brain has been jumping from idea to idea, and I began a Pendragon/Kingdom Hearts crossover that, as of yet, only exists on the Pendragon Offical Forum. I'll post it later, I guess. You don't need to worry about my not finishing SSR, though. I'm sure JK will be quite obliging in the "annoy QW to no end until she updates" part of the bargain.

Ame: Don't forget about me!

Quatre: How could I?

Ame: #innocent smile#

Quatre: Sooo… without further ado, here's the sixteenth chapter!

* * *

Warnings and Disclaimer are the same as before.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Nightmares suck, don't they? ****

* * *

**

Jack gaped at Yami as Sam rushed to check on Anise. The Tok'ra sat up with her help, and Freya looked around in amazement and confusion.

"Where are we?" she asked, perplexed. "What's going on? What happened to Anise? She's silent in my mind, and I cannot get her to rouse."

"Ask him," Jack accused, pointing to Yami. "Tell me what you did to her, now. Not that I'm not grateful or anything," he added.

"I merely drove the evil from her soul," Yami said evenly. "She will recover."

Ryou chuckled darkly. "Oh, Pharaoh, you never cease to amaze me."

Yami shot a look at the white-haired teen. "You should have learned by now, Bakura, that no one messes with my hikari."

Bakura snickered. Jack eyed him. "You're that Tomb Robber, right?"

Bakura nodded. "What of it, mortal?"

"Bring Ryou back, you're creeping me out."

Yami laughed. "Now that you all know that I will not allow you to harm Yugi in any way, I'll gladly return to America with you." He bowed to them all. "I'm sorry for all of the trouble."

"Oh, no trouble," Jack assured. "I always enjoy seeing Anise's ass handed back to her on a silver platter."

"How did you do this, though?" Sam demanded.

Yami shrugged.

"Haven't you Americans heard of magic?" Bakura asked incredulously.

Sam shot him a contemptuous look. "You're cute, but don't push me. From my experience, any magic can be explained by technology."

"This cannot," Yami said. "This is magic in it's truest form, Major Carter. If you are to continue working with me, you will learn this sooner or later."

"Okay," Jack cut in before Sam could reply. "We're tired, we're cranky, and I sure as hell don't want Yami getting mad at me."

"Yami?" Freya asked, perplexed. "Who are you speaking of?" She climbed uncertainly to her feet, swaying slightly. Sam was there to steady her.

"It's a looong story," Daniel promised. "I'll tell you tomorrow over breakfast."

"Let's go to sleep," Jack finished as if he hadn't been interrupted. "We'll meet back here again to discuss when and how Yugi is coming back with us."

The two Japanese teens bid goodnight to SG-1 and headed back to the Game Shop.

"What happened?" Grandpa asked. He was sitting on the couch reading a book. "You were gone an awfully long time. Was there a Shadow Game?"

"Yes, Grandpa," Yugi said. "We'll tell you about it tomorrow. I have to call Seto before going to bed."

"Good night," Ryou called to Grandpa as Yugi went in search of the cordless phone. He found it upstairs in his room, where he'd left it after calling Seto the first time.

Speed dial connected him to Seto's phone. "Yugi?" the CEO asked.

"Hai, Kaiba-kun. We're all right. Thanks," Yugi reported sincerely.

"Noah hacked into those Americans' files. I know about this 'Stargate' program. I'll come to your place tomorrow to talk to them myself," Seto said. His tone brooked no argument.

"All right," Yugi mumbled sleepily. He was lying prone on his bed and sleep was fast claiming him. "G'night."

He barely acknowledged Seto's farewell before the phone slipped from limp fingers. With a shake of his head, Yami appeared and shut it off, setting it on the nightstand.

His hand drifted to Yugi's forehead, brushing back golden bangs longingly. Yugi turned into the touch, sighing contentedly. Yami kicked off his shoes and slipped into bed next to Yugi, pulling the blanket up over the both of them. Yugi gratefully snuggled up next to him, wrapping his arms around Yami's midsection and burying his face in Yami's chest. Yami held Yugi gently, closing his eyes as well.

/What are you doing?/ Ame's voice whispered in his mind.

/Yugi has nightmares after playing Shadow Games,/ Yami replied quietly. /He hasn't told me what he dreams, but he always wakes up in a cold sweat screaming himself hoarse./

Silence for a moment.

/Do you think you'll be able to help him?/ Ame inquired.

Yami's uncertainness filtered down to the Tok'ra. /I hope so,/ Yami said. /I truly hope so./

* * *

The nightmare was always the same. Yugi stared around frantically, hoping against hope that this time, it would be different, that this time it would end differently.

He was on Seto's island, at the very top of the tower built in place of the original Kaiba Corporation.

He didn't want to turn around. He didn't want to see what waited for him.

He turned.

Yami Marik greeted him, face cracked into a chilling grin. "Well, my dear pharaoh. Now is the time to settle it. Which of us is greater, hm?"

Yugi groaned. He was back during the Battle City finals, in the duel to determine the fate of the world. But this time, Yami wasn't with him.

"Yami!" Yugi shouted, whirling around, trying to spot the Egyptian Pharaoh. He was alone on the dueling platform with the crazed spirit.

"Face me!" Yami Marik commanded. Yugi spun around, backing away from the spirit. He could _feel_ the waves of evil flowing off Yami Marik, even worse than the ones from Teal'c's Goa'uld, and he was deathly afraid.

"Get away from me!" Yugi cried, scrambling backwards until he couldn't anymore. He looked down over the edge of the tower and caught sight of the ground many, many floors below.

"Your fear is delicious," Yami Marik purred. "How alone you must be, dear Yugi, without even the Pharaoh to protect you. You don't know where he's gone, do you?"

"Have you done something with him?" Yugi demanded. "Where's Yami?"

Yami Marik chuckled darkly, and Yugi cringed away from the sound.

"Yami is here, though I think you'll find that he's very different from before." Yami Marik gestured towards the shadows.

Yami stepped forward into the light, and Yugi rushed forward to greet him. "Yami! I'm so glad you're here!"

The Egyptian Pharaoh stepped forward and, instead of greeting Yugi, he slapped him. Hard. Yugi fell against the low wall that surrounded the roof, automatically raising a hand to his bruised cheek.

"Yami? What's wrong with you?" Yugi asked, eyes filling up with tears. He gazed up at the spirit, expecting to see something. Acknowledgement, regret, something!

Instead he saw nothing. Yami's garnet eyes were closed to him, soulless as Yami Marik's. The Millennium Puzzle glinted sinisterly around his neck, and Yugi abruptly understood.

"Yami!" Yugi pleaded. "What's he done to you?! Tell me!"

Yami Yugi looked down at his hikari in contempt, then reached down and grabbed the teen by the throat. Yugi thrashed against the hold as Yami hauled Yugi up to his eye level, then sneered.

"You are not worthy of me," he hissed. "You never were."

Tears streamed down Yugi's face. There was nothing save contempt in his darker half's face as Yami held Yugi over the edge of the tower roof.

"I will rule the world," Yami Marik crowed. "Your Yami will be my primary servant, and the first person I choose to get rid of… is you."

Yugi locked eyes with is darker half, pleading. Garnet eyes bored into him, hard as the stone they resembled. Yami grinned and released his hold on his hikari.

"Yami!" Yugi screamed, scrambling for a handhold but finding none.

Yami's maniacal laughter followed him down the side of the tower.

* * *

He woke up sobbing uncontrollably, clutching his pillows in a deathgrip as he fought to stop crying. A choked grunt alerted him to the fact that his pillow wasn't a pillow, and he raised his head to look at Yami.

"It's okay," Yami assured him, cradling him in his arms. "It was only a dream."

Yugi hugged Yami and buried his face in his chest, letting his tears soak into Yami's shirt. Yami didn't complain.

"It was only a dream," Yami repeated. He rubbed Yugi's back in a soothing manner, whispering quiet words of comfort. Yugi eventually relaxed and stopped crying.

"Thank you," Yugi whispered. He sounded dreadful, he knew, but Yami didn't say anything.

"Do you need anything?" Yami asked gently.

Yugi stared up at him.

_I need to know that my dream will never come true_, he whispered in his head, careful not to let the thought leak out.

Out loud, he said, "Please just hold me, Yami."

Yami seemed taken aback by the request but complied. Yugi closed his eyes and sighed.

Yami was here, right now, with him. Yugi decided that, for now, it was enough.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them both, a Tok'ra by the name of Ame was watching the exchange closely. It wasn't any secret that Yami liked Yugi, of course.

"Is that a hint of something on Yugi's part, though?" Ame murmured to himself, slipping back into his soul room and lying down on the new blue and red sheets on his bed.

"I need to soundproof my room," Ame decided.

It never hurt to be cautious, after all.

* * *

Seto Kaiba glared at the computer screen, where a green-haired little kid was amusing himself rearranging Seto's desktop icons. Noah Kaiba always enjoyed this, and it always irritated Seto to no end.

"Must you do that?" Seto growled, chasing his adopted brother with the mouse. Noah yelped as it poked him and dove behind Seto's Recycle Bin.

"You've disconnected me from the Internet, and, as you never let me download anything, this is the only thing I can do to amuse myself," Noah explained reasonably. Seto dragged the recycle bin elsewhere and clicked on Noah. Noah glared as Seto dragged him into Microsoft Word.

"Write something, then," the CEO said.

Noah pouted. Then he grinned. "I'll write a fanfiction!"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

"Fanfiction," Noah repeated. "Fan-written fiction based on shows or movies. Ya know, like those things you always catch me reading."

Seto sat back rubbing his temples against the coming headache. "I'm sorry I asked."

Noah grinned at him and turned to the document. Words began filling the screen. Seto closed the laptop lid with a sigh.

"Hey, Seto!"

"What?" Seto growled.

"Put in a CD, please?"

Seto picked a CD from his enormous collection at random and stuck it in the CD-Rom drive.

"Thanks!"

"Someone shoot me," Seto moaned. "My brother is talking to me from a laptop."

"Better that than the Shadow Realm," Noah pointed out. "From what you've told me, it's no picnic."

"I'm going to bed," Seto sighed.

"Night!" Noah called, sounding more than a little distracted.

Seto was already changed for bed, so all he had to do was shut off the light and climb into bed.

He couldn't quite manage to make himself fall asleep, though.

After about an hour of Seto staring up at his ceiling, a quiet voice broke the silence.

"Seto?" Noah asked.

"What?"

"Why can't you sleep?"

Seto scowled, though of course Noah couldn't see it. "None of your business."

"Well, fine then. Next time I try to be helpful, I'll know better!" Noah snarled.

Seto rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head. "I'm sorry, Noah. It's just that I don't know what's going to happen or how it'll affect me or you or Mokuba."

"Ah. Well, you'll protect Mokuba, right?"

"Of course!" Seto snapped. "Why wouldn't I?"

"And you know that Yami would put his own life on the line for him, as well," Noah continued.

Seto sighed. "You're trying to tell me not to worry and that Mokuba will be fine."

"Well, to borrow an American phrase, duh!"

Seto chuckled. "Thanks, Noah."

For some reason, he found it easier to fall asleep now.

* * *

Quatre: Hope you enjoyed! Until the next time… ja! 


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Figuring Things Out

Quatre: Hey all! Sorry I've been so scarce lately. I've been dealing with a lot of things, including writer's block. This chapter has been completed for a while, and even though there may still be a few things wrong with it I'm posting it anyway. I figure it's the least I can do for you all. I don't really have much else to say, other than check back in a few days because I might change things. Oh, and I'll be changing the timeline for this fic soon cause I saw the Stargate SG-1 season finale and realized I"d thrown things way off track. The Stargate SG-1 stuff happens 5000 years before this; the YGO stuff is 3000 years before this. Just keep that in mind no da.

Enjoy!

* * *

Warnings: The same as usual. Also, some Yami/Yugi in this chapter so if you don't like that stuff, skip it. 

Disclaimer: If I owned either of these, I'd have already made a miniseries.

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: Figuring Things Out ** **

* * *

**

Yugi woke up the next morning feeling a bit better. It helped that Yami still had his arms wrapped around him. The teen sighed and laid his head back on Yami's chest.

_Okay_, he thought privately. _What are my feelings for Yami? I've been trying not to think about them, cause frankly I'm scared of what I'll come up with._

He frowned in thought.

_It's time to face facts. Yami's more than a friend. I don't know how much more, though. A best friend? A… boyfriend?_

Yugi stared up at Yami's sleeping face.

_Wouldn't that be wrong, though? I mean, we're almost identical. Wouldn't it be like dating yourself? Or…_

Yugi blushed and jumped off that line of thought.

_I'm just so confused!_ He summed everything up quite nicely in that one frustrated sentence.

He reached up and stroked Yami's face gently.

_He's soft_, Yugi thought, surprised. _It's… nice. _It surprised him. He'd never actually thought to touch Yami like this, simply to _touch_.

He gently traced Yami's cheekbones, then let his fingers fall to Yami's lips and just ghosted across them. Blushing, he let his hand fall to Yami's chest.

_That felt… weird._

Yami opened his eyes and peered at him. "Yugi?"

Yugi eeped. "You were awake!"

Ame snickered from his soul room.

Yugi turned beet red and bolted from the bed, seeking the sanctuary of the bathroom.

/It was a nice show, though/ Ame said by way of conversation.

/Can it or I'll make you eat one of those rubber Goa'uld/ Yugi growled. He sat on the toilet and buried his head in his hands.

Ame decided not to push Yugi and left him in his little sanctuary.

"He actually threatened me!" he complained to Yami.

_He must be seriously upset or angry,_ Yami mused, ignoring the Tok'ra in favor of knocking on the bathroom door.

"Go away," Yugi muttered.

"I think we need to talk," Yami said kindly.

Yugi didn't answer.

With a sigh, Yami shifted into his spiritual form and walked through the door. Yugi looked up at him in alarm and turned away.

"I see you've been thinking," Yami said, kneeling on the floor next to the toilet. Yugi didn't respond. Yami sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to figure things out, Yami, I really am," Yugi mumbled. "Every time I think I've figured something out, though, I worry about more things!"

"Like what?" Yami asked.

Yugi shrugged. "Just things."

He yelped when Yami pulled him off the toilet and into a hug. "I hate to see you upset, Yugi," the spirit sighed.

"And I hate to be upset," Yugi said.

"So how can we fix that?" Yami asked. Yugi failed notice the hint of mischief in his voice.

Yugi shrugged. "I'm ready for anything at this point."

Yami swallowed hard. _Here goes nothing._

With a prayer to the gods, he lifted Yugi's chin so that the teen was looking at him. Yugi blinked. "Yami?"

Yami leaned forward and kissed him. Yugi's mind blanked, all of his attention focused on Yami's lips on his own.

After a few minutes, the pharaoh broke away and blushed. Yugi blinked at him.

"You're blushing," was the most intelligent comment that came to mind.

"I'm sorry, I thought that it would help make your decision easier," Yami apologized.

"It was… nice," Yugi mused.

"Well… we should get downstairs. We've got to meet SG-1 later."

"Could you do it, Yami? I'm… I've got to think stuff over."

* * *

Ryou blinked as Yami entered the kitchen and sat down. "Where's Yugi?" 

"He's asleep," Yami said. He pulled a plate towards him and filled it with food.

Ame snorted. "So what did you two talk about?"

"Nothing. Yugi was tired and he wanted to go back to sleep. He asked me to take care of everything today." Yami began eating, effectively ignoring Ame's attempts to trick him into talking. Ame pouted and sulked, eating his food in silence.

"Are you going somewhere today?" Grandpa asked.

"We're meeting Seto at the park," Yami said. "Yugi, Ame, and I may have to go back to America."

Ame snorted. "No 'may' about it. You already said. Or rather, we." He frowned. "Which of us was in control last night for the Shadow Game? It was fairly odd."

Yami inclined his head, fork still in his mouth. Ryou chuckled, hiding it in his orange juice. "I think we both were," the pharaoh said finally after setting his fork on his plate. "In Duelist Kingdom, Yugi and I would sort of merge together. I can't really explain it. The Millennium Puzzle must have had something to do with it."

"I think you scared that American," Bakura said, appearing next to Ryou. "The one you called J."

"I think that was you," Yami corrected.

Bakura shrugged. "Does it matter? One of us did."

Ame finished his breakfast. "I'll go pester Yugi now. Later!" He vanished.

No one noticed his abrupt departure. Yami finished eating and stood.

"I'll call Seto and ask him what time he wants to meet," he told Ryou and Bakura. "I assume you want to come with us?"

"Naturally," Bakura snorted.

"We're concerned about what the Americans are up to, after all," Ryou elaborated.

Yami nodded and left the room.

* * *

Yugi rounded another corner in Yami's soul room and walked on without bothering to look where he was going. This was where he came to think, and not even Yami knew about it. He felt safe here, safer than anywhere else in the real world. He sometimes entertained the thought that he knew this place better than his yami. 

There was one chamber in the labyrinth that helped him think. He didn't even have to try to find it. Somehow, his wanderings of Yami's soul room always led him there.

This time was no different. Yugi leaned against the door before, with a sigh, he slipped in and collapsed on the waiting bed.

This wasn't Yami's bedroom. Yugi didn't even know where it was from there. He always thought that this was a memory, a guest room from Yami's time as the Pharaoh Atemu. It certainly wasn't like any room Yugi had ever seen in the real world.

It was a simple room, dominated by a large, canopied bed. The walls were natural stone, covered in places with elaborate tapestries that sometimes reached from the floor to the ceiling. These tapestries depicted rituals involving animal-headed deities, some of them fierce, others harmless. A tan carpet covered the floor, more luxurious than any Yugi had seen elsewhere. The bed was furnished with a soft quilt, tan in color to match the walls, and covered with numerous small pillows. A large dust-coated wardrobe stood forlornly in a corner. There was a small couch facing the bed, covered with yet more pillows.

Yugi stood and looked at his sanctuary for a moment. It was just as he had left it. With a sigh, he moved to the bed and flopped onto it, throwing pillows everywhere. He remained motionless for a few moments before rolling over and staring gloomily at the ceiling.

"And I thought that my life couldn't get any stranger," Yugi sighed. "What's happening here? Ever since Ame showed up, things have gone from strange to insane! First I learn that Yami likes me more than he should, which of course Ame has no responsibility for because he wasn't here yet. Why haven't I realized it before? I should have!"

He stopped berating himself with a mournful mew.

He didn't realize that he'd fallen asleep until he began to dream.

* * *

Ame was searching Yami's soul room fruitlessly for Yugi. 

"Where the Set did the little bugger run off to?" Ame muttered under his breath, coming to an intersection and choosing the stairs that twisted upside-down. There were no doors on this hall, only more corridors branching off into eternity. Ame growled and turned around, only to find that the stairs had vanished.

"Kriff it," he swore. "Whoever created this Ra-be-damned place should suffer. Horribly."

Picking a corridor at random, he dashed down it.

* * *

Yami dressed after breakfast and left for the park. Grandpa was already in the shop with the first customers of the day. Bakura had taken control of Ryou's body and was waiting near the front door. Yami didn't miss the fact that the Tomb Robber had already divested three people of their wallets. 

Seto was out front in his limo. "Where are we meeting these Americans?" the CEO asked irritably.

"Nearby, in the park," Yami answered. "You can follow us, but we're walking."

"I can see that," Seto muttered. He opened his door and said something sharp to the driver. The limo sped off as soon as he closed his door. "Lead the way," the brunette said, taking up his customary briefcase.

It was Bakura who led them to the park. His eyes danced across the street, taking in every sight, studying the people who passed by them with an eye that was accustomed to finding danger at every turn.

SG-1 was waiting around the same light post as the night before. Any conversations that they may have been having ceased as soon as the Japanese teens came into view.

"Who's that?" Jack demanded, studying Seto with a distrustful eye.

"Seto Kaiba," Seto introduced himself shortly. "You don't have to introduce yourself; I've read your profile on your 'secure' network. I'm here because any hacker with a will can get into your systems. I know what sort of work you do and it is in my best interests if you keep it secret."

Everyone, including Bakura, blinked at him. His American accent was nearly perfect.

"He's direct, isn't he?" Jack commented to Yami. The former pharaoh shrugged.

"He doesn't like beating around the bush," was the simple reply.

"What did you do to Anise?" Sam asked. "According to Freya, she's still alive, but she won't answer."

Yami sighed. "I explained last night. She lost the Shadow Game; therefore, her soul was forfeit. I could have crushed her out of existence, and I have done so on several occasions to others who have dared to harm me, Yugi, or our friends. I only banished Anise's evil to the Shadow Realm. She will recover."

"That's impossible," Sam argued. "You don't possess any technology capable of doing any of that."

Yami raised an eyebrow at her. "Who said technology was the cause of this?"

"There's no such thing as magic!" was Sam's admant response.

"When are you to return to America?" Yami asked Jack, ignoring Sam. "Bakura would like to come with us to see the Gate for himself."

"We can return as soon as you're ready," Jack said. "I'd like to leave as soon as possible."

"All right," Yami nodded. "Yugi is unavailable at the moment, but I'm sure he won't mind."

"And where's Ame?" Daniel asked.

"He's trying to find Yugi and has gotten lost in my Soul Room," Yami said. "He'll find his way out soon… I hope."

"You hope?" Jack asked.

"My soul room is an endless labyrinth," Yami explained. "I sometimes get lost as well."

"Oh."

"Are you going to come with us, Mr. Kaiba?" Sam asked the brunette Japanese.

"Naturally."

"Then meet us here again tonight. Be packed." Jack turned to leave. "And Bakura, was it?"

The white-haired teen blinked and turned on one of Ryou's innocent looks. "What?"

"Give me back my wallet."

Bakura chuckled and handed it over. "You're smart, for a modern-day mortal." He turned, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I believe there are some bullies that I haven't terrorized lately. It's long past time for their lesson. Ja."

Several raised eyebrows followed the teen as he ambled off in a seemingly random direction.

"Do I want to know?" Jack asked.

"No," Yami and Seto muttered at the same time, then shot glares at each other.

"I must go, as well, and tell the school that I shall once again be leaving," Yami said, "And I'm sure Seto has some business with his company to deal with. We shall see you tonight."

Jack watched the Japanese teens walk off, then turned to him team. "Is it just me, or does that Ryou kid have problems?"

"It's not just you, sir," Sam assured.

"Well, remember what Yami told us back before this whole mess?" Daniel reminded them. "Ryou's Item contains the spirit of an Egyptian Tomb Robber. According to legend, those who robbed the tombs of the kings had no conscience."

"Meaning?" Jack asked patiently.

"They were all insane," Daniel translated.

"And we're letting him on base?" Sam asked incredulously.

"I must inquire as to the wisdom of this decision," Teal'c intoned.

Jack shrugged. "I'm sure he'd find his way onto the base with or without our permission, so it's better to have him in a place where we can keep an eye on him. Danny, just keep track of your shiny things."

Daniel choked on a laugh. "Shiny things?"

"Yeah."

Daniel shook his head in defeat.

* * *

It was almost time to leave when Yugi finally woke up. He yawned, stretched, and lied back in the comfortable bed. 

"So what did I figure out before I fell asleep?" he asked thin air. "Ah yes, my life is completely screwed up."

He reluctantly climbed out of bed. "Yami is sure to be worried about me. I'd better find him."

He left his little sanctuary and found the familiar path to the exit. On his way, he heard a string of curses in several languages and, upon investigation, found Ame sitting against the wall muttering angrily to himself. Yugi couldn't his grin.

"Got lost?" the teen inquired.

Ame jumped a good foot in the air. "Don't startle me like that!" he yelped. "But yes, I'm lost."

Yugi nodded knowingly. "I figured. I haven't heard that many curses since Bakura tried to kill Yami last time."

Ame raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Just wandering. I've been here before. Come on, I'll lead you out."

Ame grinned, bouncing up to glomp Yugi. "Arigatou!" the Tok'ra said happily. "You are prank-free for a week, or until I get lost again."

They finally made it to the corridor separating Yugi and Yami's soul rooms. Ame glomped Yugi again and vanished into his soul room. Yugi shook his head and went to the real world in spiritual form.

"Hey, Yami," he greeted warmly. The sprit looked up from the nearly-full suitcase and smiled.

"Hello, Yugi. I trust Ame never found you?"

"He got lost and was cursing several different people when I found him. He's back in his soul room and plotting now, I'm sure. I didn't bother to ask."

Yami chuckled, turning back to work. Yugi stared at him for a long while.

_I don't know how I feel about you, Yami,_ he thought.

But there was a good way to find out. Yugi took on physical form and, taking a deep breath, grabbed Yami's face in his hands. The spirit didn't even have a chance to say anything before Yugi kissed him.

Yugi closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss, feeling Yami pull him into an embrace.

_This feels… This feels…_

_This feels right._

Yugi moaned into the kiss, Yami taking advantage of his open mouth to explore it thoroughly. They separated for air a few minutes later, Yugi resting his head on Yami's shoulders and processing his feelings.

"Yugi?" Yami asked quietly.

"Aishiteru, Yami-kun," Yugi whispered. "Please never leave me."

Yami held Yugi tighter, burying his face in red-tipped spikes. "Never," Yami vowed. "I won't let anything separate us."

Yugi smiled. "Thank you."

* * *

Quatre: Again, sorry for the wait. I hope you all liked it! 


	18. Chapter Eighteen: Back to Business

Sorry this took so long, minna. Since I got a job, I haven't had much a chance to fic at all. But it's here now, with the next chapter to come after I make sure I caught all the mistakes.

Not much else to say, aside from the fact that plot bunnies keep mobbing me. They either like me too much or hate me. I can't tell which.

Enjoy!

* * *

Beta's notes: Never let Ame near the keys to your family's whiskey cabinent. Set, never let him near alcohol. Secrets - Revealed! Names - Spoken! Locusts, elevators, and Silly String abound in this new, exciting chapter of SHADOW STARGATE (redone!)

* * *

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Well, except this story. And a couple of rogue Cosplay Mets. Though Slur keeps trying to delete them...

Warnings: Insanity of the Ame variety.

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen: Back to Business**

Seto had a suitcase open within minutes of returning to his mansion. It was full soon after, and another had taken its place on the bed.

Noah watched his activities from the computer. "I take it you're going on a trip."

"That's right," Seto affirmed, opening his desk drawer and rifling through it. "You're coming along, too. I need someone who can get past the SGC's security so that I know what to fix."

"Nice to know I'm appreciated. What about Mokuba?"

"He's not coming with us," Seto said. "I'll leave him with Yugi's grandfather. It's too dangerous in the SGC."

"Wise decision, although I'm sure he's not happy about it."

"'Not happy' is an understatement," Seto sighed.

"Cheer up. When's the last time you've been to the US?"

"Before Battle City." Seto grinned. "Perhaps a roller coaster ride in one of their amusement parks will be nice."

He closed up the second suitcase, then turned to the laptop. "Want me to shut you down, or will you be okay on battery power?"

"I'll sleep for a while, I guess. Wake me up when we get on the plane."

Seto closed the laptop lid and placed it into its carrying case.

* * *

The plane ride was murder, with Ame pestering the attendants for pizza and soda. Yami and Yugi, back in their soul rooms for the duration of the ride, could only look on.

"Dear Ra… he's a monster," Yugi snickered after an incident involving pizza crusts and a grumpy Jaffa.

Yami chuckled. "Should we stop him?"

"Not on your life. I want pictures."

Yugi dashed into his soul room and returned to Yami's with an instant camera. A minute later, there was no more film and a carpet of photos.

"Blackmail," Yugi grinned evilly. Yami snickered.

"You have been hanging around either Bakura or Ame too long. I haven't decided who is more evil."

They both laughed.

* * *

"Thank Ra that's over," Bakura groaned as they disembarked at an Air Force base. Two vans were waiting to take them back to the SGC.

Teal'c stared stonily ahead of him, his face blank, the only evidence that something was wrong with him being an eyebrow slowly twitching. Crumbs littered his clothes and were smushed on his bald head, and the symbol of Apophis on his head had gone from gold to a peculiar shade of pink.

"I'm never riding on a plane with those guys again," Seto grumbled. Only he'd been spared from Ame's wrath, an occurrence no one could fathom. He'd seen what happened to everyone else, though, and silently vowed never to be in the same room with a bored Ame.

Yugi was currently in control of their shared body and was apologizing fervently to everyone. Only Seto caught the humor in his eyes as the plane passengers recovered from many hours on a plane with a stir-crazy Tok'ra.

Jack and Daniel had pepperoni and silly putty stuck to their clothes. Sam was sporting a drawn-on moustache and glasses, something that had appeared in the last hour when everyone had finally fallen asleep. She hadn't realized yet why everyone was snickering when they looked at her and could only look around cluelessly. Bakura and Ame had had a silly string fight midway through the flight, and Bakura now wore a hat made of silly string that was bright blue, green, and pink. Somehow he managed not to look embarrassed, even though the silly string had hardened to become something almost rocklike. With Ryou's naturally pale complexion, he looked like a zombie clown, and with Bakura's vicious glare he looked ready to murder someone. Freya had somehow gotten her hands dyed red and black and now she looked like her hands had been broken badly, though of course she was completely uninjured.

General Hammond and Jacob were waiting near the vans. Their faces bore a mixture of shock, incredulity, and humor.

Seto walked over to the van calmly, Noah's laptop tucked under his arm. The black surface of the computer was streaked with orange, a casualty of the silly string fight.

"I'm Seto Kaiba," he introduced himself in English.

General Hammond tore his eyes away from the carnage and blinked.

"Pardon me?"

"I'm Seto Kaiba."

"Ah, yes. You offered to upgrade our computer systems' security." Hammond was preoccupied, his eyes drifting back to Yugi and a shellshocked group. "I'm General Hammond."

"I'm Jacob Carter," Jacob introduced. "Also Selmak, but he's currently frozen in shock and can't say hi. I think he forgot how bad Ame was in this department."

Seto only hn-ed and climbed into the front seat of a van. He almost got in the wrong side before remembering that Americans had the entire system reversed. Behind him, SG-1 was slowly recovering and drifting towards the van, silent. Sam got a good look at herself in the mirror, choked, and started using the back of Jack's shirt to wash her face. Jack looked over his shoulder, thought about saying something, then just faced forward and kept walking.

None of the members of SG-1 would get in the same van as Yugi. Hammond joined them. Jacob was stuck with Yugi, Ryou, Seto, and Freya.

Yugi was still apologizing to Ryou and Freya as the vans pulled out.

* * *

Malik was waiting at the entrance to Cheyenne Mountain when the vans pulled in and their occupants filed out. Well, not really. His body was in his and Isis' temporary quarters on base. His mind was currently occupying an airman's.

Isis shot him a strange look when his body started laughing for no apparent reason.

* * *

"I will get him for this," Jack swore as he stepped out of the shower stall and accepted the towel that Daniel offered him. "If it's the last thing I do I will get him for this."

Teal'c was long gone. Ryou was sitting meekly in a corner while Bakura chipped away at the silly string helmet with a surprisingly gentle hand It was going slowly, and only a little bit of hair had been freed. Bakura muttered a curse in Egyptian, then stalked over to a shower stall with Ryou in tow and shoved the teen in.

"Stay in there for a few minutes and see if water can soften the blasted stuff."

Jack toweled off and dressed in the base uniform. Daniel waited patiently for him by the door.

"What could we do to get back at him, though?" Daniel asked as Jack finished and headed his way. "He's pretty crafty."

Bakura leaned against the wall near them. "Yugi told Ryou once that there are rubber Goa'uld all over his Soul Room. Maybe you can get Yugi to swipe them."

"We might get Yami or Yugi by mistake, though," Daniel pointed out.

"I'm sure they'll understand given the circumstances. For more ideas see me later in Malik's room on base. Once I find it." Bakura went back over to Ryou and yanked him out of the shower. The poor kid hadn't even been able to change out of his clothes and shivered in the relative cool of the room. Bakura rolled his eyes and found a few towels, then set about getting the rest of the silly string. It had turned to mush and the majority was easily scraped off.

"Let's go see what Hammond wants us to do now," Jack sighed.

* * *

Ame snickered in his soul room. Yugi, the one in control of the body, sweatdropped and ignored the looks he was getting from the various airmen he passed in the corridors. Word had already begun spreading about what had happened on the airplane and now Ame, and by default himself and Yami as well, were seen as heroes/people to watch out for from that point forward.

/Ame, we're never going to be able to do anything respectable around here again/ Yugi lamented.

/We can continue watching Fruits Basket/ Ame shot back happily. /That's respectable./

/But not what I meant/ Yugi sighed.

One of the airmen stepped in front of them and saluted. Yugi raised an eyebrow.

"I was not aware I had a rank within this facility."

The airman lowered his arm and said, "General Hammond would like to see you in the Briefing Room, sir."

"And everyone else that comes with, I presume," Yugi noted.

"Yes, sir."

"Why not announce it on the PA?" Yugi wanted to know.

"Something got into the circuitry again, sir. Not rats this time. Locusts."

"Ah. Thanks for telling me. Good day." Yugi continued on his way and soon came upon the elevator. He swiped his key card and waited for the elevator to come.

/No pizza/ Ame whined.

/No pizza/ Yami confirmed.

/Awwww./

The doors opened to reveal Seto, with Noah's laptop under his arm, and Malik. Yugi stepped into the elevator and waited for the doors to close before saying, "Locusts, Malik?"

Malik shrugged. "Someone already used rats, and wire clippers would be too obvious."

"Locusts are obvious to anyone who knows you, Malik," Yugi pointed out.

"Ah, but who here knows me?" Malik retorted, a satisfied smirk on his face.

The conversation was held in Japanese so Seto could follow what was being said. A suspicious snort came from his direction, but when the other two passengers glanced his way he looked as cool as ever.

The door opened on the right level and all three got off. Yugi led the way to the briefing room, where SG-1, Ryou, and Freya had gathered. Freya's hands were still a bit dark, but most of the color had come off. Sam was no longer sporting anything on her face, and Teal'c's symbol was back to its usual gold color. Ryou's hair had flecks of color still in it but was otherwise back to normal. He looked a bit paler than usual, though, and was wearing overly warm clothes.

At Yugi's concerned look Ryou said, "Bakura dumped me in the shower and I caught a chill. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

Hammond emerged from his office, sparing Yugi from answering. "Please sit, everyone."

They all took seats around the table and waited for Hammond to begin.

"I have been briefed about all that went on in Japan by Teal'c. Yugi, what exactly did Yami do to Anise?" Hammond asked after the room had settled down.

Yugi leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. The puzzle flashed, and Yami opened his eyes and looked at Hammond.

"She attempted to harm Yugi. I initiated a Shadow Game and let the Shadow Realm judge her. She was found wanting. Since she lost, I initiated a Penalty Game that will force her to break out of the confines of her current narrow-mindedness or else wander in the shadows forever. She can recover, but she must be willing to acknowledge that she was wrong."

Yami delivered his explanation in a neutral voice. When he finished, he crossed his arms and looked out over the table, waiting.

Finally Malik said, "You're growing soft, Pharaoh."

Bakura appeared behind Ryou's chair with a flash. "I thought so too, as well, but I suspect he was not the only one who was controlling that game."

Malik raised an eyebrow. "Yugi?"

"It seemed more like Ame."

Jack raised a hand, interrupting. "Hello? Care to explain for those of us who don't know what you all are talking about?"

"You remember when I first revealed my existence to you, correct?" Yami asked. Nods from the American side of the table. "If you'll recall, I told you that when Yugi first solved the puzzle, he and I would form one person during his duels. That same phenomenon happened here, as well. I do not understand it, but I don't feel the need to."

"Then Anise will recover?" Freya asked hopefully. All eyes turned to her. "You must understand, I have been with her for many years. Without her it seems I am missing a piece of myself."

"She will recover," Yami assured her. "Now may I ask a question of you?"

"Yes."

"What are the Tok'ra Council's true motives for desiring that Yugi stay with them?" Yami inquired.

Freya sighed. "For millennia after the Stargate of this world was buried, the Tok'ra had kept an eye on the people of the Taur'i. An agent would come every now and then to see when a Goa'uld came and took more people through the Stargate in the region you all call Antarctica. Around three thousand years ago, the agent we sent did not return, and another sent to see what happened carried with him tales of strange items with powers to rival the Goa'uld. The agent advised against returning, as those who held the items could sense us within a host and we were not welcome.

"Ever since we met the people of this facility, we have been eager to find out what happened to those Items. If we could get them, they would be a valuable asset in our fight against the Goa'uld. That is why we placed Ame under the carving under which you found him, and why we hid away the history of the Games of Darkness on the tablets which you undoubtedly discovered. We knew that one who held an Item would recognize them for what they were."

Yami nodded understanding. "And when Yugi and I found that place, you ensured that we would find Ame as well."

"Yes," Freya acknowledged. "Ame knew nothing, of course. It was also a way of getting him out of our hair after a disastrous mission caused the loss of his previous host, Faizah. Admittedly, the odds against an Item Holder finding the Stargate were astronomical. The Council thought that Ame would be gone for good, but, as you well know, he is not."

/That explains a whole lot/ Ame said. His voice was uncharacteristically reserved, almost sad. /I need some time to myself, if you don't mind./

The sound of Ame's door shutting echoed sadly in the corridor between their rooms.

"Once Jacob communicated with us after meeting Yugi, the Council suspected that they had indeed found an Item Holder and wanted him as close as possible so that they could control the power of the Item by controlling Yugi," Freya finished.

"But we would not cooperate, and you were sent after us," Yami pointed out.

"You are as old as we are, Pharaoh, but you do not know what has been going on, the battles that have been won and lost in the name of freedom. The Tok'ra are slowly dying out, and we need the power of the Millennium Items or else we will fade," Freya said urgently. "The Council is willing to do anything to control this power, even resort to Goa'uld means."

"Placing a Tok'ra willing to cooperate within Yugi," Yami surmised. His eyes hardened. "We won't allow that."

"And neither will I," Hammond said darkly. "When you go back to the Council, tell them that to do that will jeopardize our alliance."

"And you will face the vengeance of those others with Millennium Items," Bakura said, his voice edged with deadly humor. Ryou twisted in his chair and lay a hand on his darker half's arm, trying to calm him before he hurt someone. Surprisingly, Bakura shot Ryou a look that was almost reassuring and settled down just a little bit.

"Damn straight," Malik glowered, the Millennium Eye appearing briefly on his forehead. Freya looked down at the table.

"I realize that. It was wrong to attempt to manipulate the situation to this extreme. For what it is worth, I am sorry."

Yugi appeared behind Yami, smiling brightly. "I accept your apology."

Yami looked up at Yugi, searching his other's face. Yugi glanced down at him. "What?"

"Nothing."

Hammond sighed and looked down at the table as if contemplating something. "Yugi, are you willing to return to the Tok'ra world and confront the council?"

Yugi nodded resolutely. "Yes, Hammond-sama. I am ready to tell them the truth about my Item, provided Yami doesn't mind. Perhaps they will be deterred from their present course of action."

"All right. Jacob thought you might say that. He went back to the Tok'ra base an hour ago to schedule a meeting with the Council." Hammond looked over at Seto. "When are you prepared to begin your work on our computer systems?"

"As soon as Noah can be bothered to stop writing his fanfiction," Seto said, his cold voice making the words seem like an insult. "Apparently, during the plane ride he was attacked by a plot bunny involving Star Wars."

Bakura snickered. "Plot bunny?"

Seto glared. "His words, not mine. Ever since I bought the Star Wars movies he's been obsessed with them. He joined a website and is named Jedi Master Noah on it."

Malik laughed. "May the force be with you," he grinned.

"Shut up, Ishtar."

Hammond sighed and thought _I'm not even going to ask_. He looked up at the ceiling, an imploring look on his face. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Take this job," Jack, Daniel, and Yugi chorused. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Hammond sweatdropped.

"What other business do we need to take care of?" Sam wanted to know. She deathglared Jack, who had fallen over in his mirth and landed on her.

"We need to figure out what to do with Mr. Bakura and Mr. and Miss Ishtar," Hammond said. "I don't think many people in the Pentagon would like it if they were here with nothing to do."

"They can help with translations," Yugi offered.

Malik leaned back and propped his feet on the table. He then proceeded to stare at the lights without blinking. "I don't care," was his response. Hammond shot him a glare that he either ignored or didn't notice.

Everyone else in the room, except Teal'c and Seto, sweatdropped.

"As long as we can stay we'll do whatever you want," Ryou grinned.

"If they're going to be in America for a while we need to get them into a school," Daniel said suddenly.

All of the teens groaned. Except Seto, of course.

"I'll take care of that, then," Daniel said.

"Anything else?" Hammond asked.

Silence around the table.

"All right then. Dismissed."

Everyone who wasn't already standing stood and headed for the door.

* * *

Ame quietly paced his soul room. He was tempted to set one of his rubber Goa'uld on Jack the next time he saw him, but decided against it.

His heart just wasn't in it.

After glaring at the contents of his room for a few moments longer, Ame sat down heavily on the edge of his bed, and opened the top drawer of the metaphysical bedside table.

For a few seconds he just looked at the drawer, then sighed and gently picked up one of many 'photographs'. They weren't really photographs, but closer to frozen images from Ame's memory.

That didn't stop this one from being in an elaborate gold frame, unlike many of the images within the drawer.

Sliver eyes stared at the picture, which had a slightly rippled effect, as though the memory had been made while looking at a body of water.

Gentle brown eyes, framed by soft-looking, pitch black hair, and tanned-gold skin, looked back up at the 'devourer of souls'. The features showed a little sadness, but also a great deal of determination.

Ame turned the memory-image over, but the other side did not show the back of the frame. Instead, the other side showed that same face, but with laughing silver eyes. The sadness was gone from the girl's face, but the determination was still there.

"Faizah…" he whispered, then lay back on the bed, turning the image over again so that he could stare at the first picture and the ceiling at the same time.

"Faizah, I am lost. I… I do not know what to do. For all that I have said, the council does still command me. If we have not convinced the others yet, then I may very well have stay with the Tok'ra, and none of us wants that."

The ceiling formed into a picture above him, a copy of the image in his hands in – for lack of a better word – stone.

Ame closed his eyes, and reached up to touch the 'stone' blocks.

His own memories opened up. Just as he had not delved into all of Yugi or Yami's memories, so too had he kept some of his own memories from them.

It is a proven fact that the individuality of the host will survive a blending intact, so long as the Goa'uld or Tok'ra has been properly matured. What is often overlooked is the fact that, while the host of itself survives, he or she also continues to live on within the Tok'ra or Goa'uld, long after they may have taken a new host.

With a sigh, he closed his eyes.

_Ame stood in a desert, his skirts whipping around his legs as the wind started to pick up._

"_We need to find shelter!" He shouted in a Goa'uld voice, the better to carry in the rising wind. Ame pushed back strands of long black hair with his left hand quickly before continuing. "Faizah says that sandstorms can come on pretty quickly around here."_

_Selmak nodded once in agreement._

Ame opened his eyes, and blinked.

"You didn't need to show me that one. I do know to always trust you, otherwise I wouldn't have told Selmak to find shelter," he said to someone who wasn't there in the "physical" sense.

'She listened to you though, didn't she?' a female voice asked pointedly.

Ame hesitated.

"Yes…"

Without warning, Ame was standing among those same sand dunes again, but there were a few differences this time around.

The wind wasn't whistling around them. Selmak wasn't there. And Faizah was separate from him, staring out across the dunes, her back towards the ancient Tok'ra.

Ame was in his new form, silver eyes following her gaze as he walked forward.

"Why have you chosen to bring us here?"

Faizah didn't look at him.

'I like the desert. I don't like being cold.'

Ame nodded slowly, glancing at her motionless face before continuing.

"What do you think I should do?"

'I cannot do your thinking for you, Amemait. That is a job for you, and you alone.'

"Call me Ame," slipped out before he could stop it.

Now Faizah did turn to look at Ame, smiling faintly.

'I suppose that a name is how you think of yourself, and I know you try to avoid thinking of yourself as Amemait.'

"Amemait did many terrible things. Amemait made mistakes. Amemait failed that mission. I don't want to be that person anymore."

'Understandable. But remember; Amemait also saved many people. And it is true that we learn from both our triumphs, and from our failures. How can you learn from Amemait if you will not accept that part of you?'

"I think I know what you're talking about."

'True wisdom is found when a person realises that they know nothing.'

Faizah returned to staring out across the dunes, which were slowly darkening. Strangely though, the sky had not changed color, nor had the sun its position in the sky.

'I cannot help you with this problem. If the council orders you back, so be it, but I know that little Yugi and the Pharaoh Atemu shall both do everything within their power to make their lives a misery, and it is likely that you shall help them with this. However, that is something you already know yourself.'

Faizah looked once more at Ame, the smile more pronounced now.

'And then, there are your own feelings to consider.'

Ame blinked.

"Own feelings? My own feelings?"

'Amemait, it is not uncommon of for a Tok'ra to fall in love with a human, nor is it unheard of for the human to feel love in return. Have patience.'

Ame blushed faintly.

"You know about that, huh?"

'I have lived on in this part of you for millennia. I think I would know about it when my former "aibou" has a crush.'

"You… don't mind?"

'Does it look like I mind?'

"I… guess not."

Ame looked away for a second, fidgeting slightly, before looking back at Faizah.

"Thanks."

'You're welcome.'

Faizah looked strangely see-through. Even as Ame reached out a hand to 'touch' her, she disappeared entirely. The sand dunes turned pure black, then the entire scene faded out of existence, and Ame was back in his bed.

Staring up at the picture, he smiled.


	19. Chapter 18, part 2: It has a long title!

Quatre: I am determined to finish this fic, come Hell, high water, or my job to tell me I have to work on my days off. It's been "the attack of the plot bunnies" and it's all I can do to focus on these fics. I will finish though! I promise!

* * *

Need I repeat the disclaimer? Or the warnings?

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen, part two: You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em…**

Hammond was already in the gateroom by the time Jacob stepped through the Stargate and onto the ramp. Jacob grinned and jogged down to meet him, brushing sand off his shoulders as he went.

"A nasty sandstorm kicked up just as I was stepping through," he explained, making a face. "I hate when that happens. It's almost impossible to find shelter unless you already know where it is."

"I'll be sure to remember that next time I go to Egypt," Hammond said dryly. "So what'd the Council say?"

"They can meet Yugi and Ame tomorrow, about 0900 here." Jacob looked around. "Where's SG-1?"

Hammond winced. "They're all playing poker in Yugi's room. They're betting jellybeans, from what I hear, and it's an open game. I've already talked to several airmen who participated and lost. Apparently Yugi and Jack are the ones to beat."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Yugi?"

"It's his innocent face that gets everyone."

Jacob and Hammond snickered. One of the technicians nearby, a man named Mike Evans, blushed and turned away in embarrassment. One of his friends grinned knowingly but said nothing.

"Should I send someone to get them?" Hammond asked at length, ushering Jacob out of the gateroom and down the hall towards the elevator.

"What about the PA?" Jacob asked.

"We're still clearing locusts out of the walls. Whoever put them there did a damn good job," Hammond scowled. "I'm thinking it was Ame."

Jacob shook his head. "When it comes to these kinds of pranks, he's very subtle, not at all like what he did on the plane. I'd expect rats from him, but not locusts."

Hammond glanced sideways at him. "Oh really? Rats?"

Jacob nodded. "Only Ame himself knows how many times Selmak found rats or the equivalent in his belongings."

They made it to the elevator and went up, getting off on the floor with the SGC personnel's quarters. All of the SG teams had quarters on base, and as Yugi was considered part of SG-1 by the majority of the base, he'd been assigned quarters near Jack. He wasn't officially a part of SG-1, but that didn't stop the person in charge of housing arrangements. He'd been heard saying, "General weirdness should be confined to one part of the base."

Now that Hammond thought about it, Jack and Ame together was probably not a good thing. He'd toyed around with the idea of giving Yugi, Yami, and Ame separate quarters, but the recent revelation that Yugi and Yami were a couple kept him from that. If they needed to, they could kick Ame out. Chances were Ame would go visit Jack and his hoard of anime tapes.

He wrenched himself out of his thoughts as the two of them reached Yugi's quarters. The door was open, and through it Hammond and Jacob could see that a large table had been set up at the foot of the bed. It was crowded with people, among them Yugi, Ame, Bakura, Jack, and various SGC personnel. Hammond recognized the uniforms of off-duty airmen and a few scientists, as well as a few members of SG-3, SG-10, and SG-5.

Jacob grinned. "Well, what do you know."

That comment was inspired by the sight of a sizeable pile of jellybeans in front of Yugi. Jack's was slightly smaller.

Yugi looked up from his hand when he heard Jacob's voice and grinned. "Hey, Jacob, Hammond-sama! I didn't think you'd come by. We're having a great time! Why don't you join us?"

The dealer, one of the members of SG-5, poked him. "Are you going to get anymore cards?"

Yugi shook his head.

"Actually, Yugi, we stopped by to tell you and everyone else concerned that you'll be meeting with the Tok'ra at 0900 tomorrow morning," Hammond answered.

"All right. I'll relay the message to Yami and Ame." He tilted his head to the side as if he were thinking. "They say they'll be ready," he reported.

"Where are they?" Jacob asked curiously.

"Yami and Isis are comparing notes in Isis' quarters. Ame wouldn't tell me where he was, and I thought it best not to ask." Yugi turned back to his game and tossed a handful of jellybeans into the middle of the table.

Jacob grinned. "I think I'll stay here for a while. You mind, George?"

Hammond shook his head. "Not at all."

They parted ways. Hammond was almost to the elevators when he heard a collective groan and one cheer of "Yatta!" from Yugi.

* * *

Bakura was not a happy person.

He stalked down the hallways of the SGC in search of a little rat of a Tok'ra, a murderous glare on his face that cleared the hall in front of him. He heard whispers from behind him, but ignored them in favor of finding Ame and hurting him. Horribly.

After an hour of Ame-hunting, he finally cooled off, though he made a mental note to ask Malik for his help in getting back at a certain Yugi clone.

"I'll get you, you little bastard!" he vowed. He got more strange looks for his trouble, which he returned with a look of his own before he walked away.

_Now what should I do? Torment the Pharaoh? _

He seriously considered it for a moment, then shook his head.

Bakura was not a person to think very much. He wasn't. But now he couldn't help it. Not after learning of the SGC and confirming something that had been brewing in his head for many millennia.

It was a prophecy he'd first heard as a little boy in Egypt. It was a common story, told in the taverns to outsiders by the men of his village. It was thought by many to be a fairy tale, but Bakura had known it was true, a truth that would not happen in his lifetime.

_The False God's return is foretold by the shadow._

_The attempts at return from the False Gods will often be thwarted by those who risk much…_

_The last of the Gods, the Mummified Jackal, will show that the Taur'i have much to learn…_

_The most powerful nation will stand almost alone to fight off the False ones 'til the true Gods return. The Tall One, The Good One, The Great One, all._

_The Pharaoh shall help them, though not without cost. His body shall carry the echo of evil, but his Ba and his Ka shall be at peace with the creature._

_For the as already mentioned creature of evil's echo has the heart full of laughter, and a soul of nought but kindness._

His mother had told it to him as a bedtime story. She, like the others of his village, thought it nothing more than a work of fiction. Many years later Bakura had gone and looked up the prophecy.

It was as old as the magic of shadows, as the Millennium Items, told by the very fist holder of the Tauk. It was a prophecy forgotten by all but a remote people who didn't believe it to be true.

Now he was the only one who knew. And only now did it make sense.

He chuckled when he realized that he'd remembered the Prophecy in Japanese, his host's native language, and at the realization that, when put into any other language besides Egyptian, the second half came out demented beyond all belief.

He mentally retranslated the prophecy as he found the elevator and waited for it to arrive.

_The Goa'uld's return is shown in the Realm._

_The Goa'uld will strike many times, and fail, at much risk to those who fight them…_

_The last of these real threats, Anubis, will show that the people of Earth have much left to learn…_

The elevator doors opened, interrupting his musings. He stepped into the empty room and punched a button at random.

_Let's see where Fate takes me today…

* * *

_

Seto and Noah settled into a secluded room on base. It was a spare bedroom furnished with a bed and a desk. It was also one of the few empty rooms that he could log on from.

"Glad to see you've finally decided to work," Seto commented as he set about hooking Noah up to the base's network.

"I have writer's block. I needed a break, anyway. So what is it you need me to do?"

Seto reclaimed his seat at the desk and started typing. "I want you to navigate through the security system so I can see what needs to be improved. No help from me, either. You're on your own."

"Who said I needed your help?" Noah retorted, though he was grinning slightly. "All right then, let's get to work."

It took him a mere ten minutes to get through all of the layers of security that protected the main database for the SGC. He got stopped by a particularly nasty firewall at one point, but successfully found another route around it.

"It's going to take a while for this burn to heal," he complained after returning to his home in Seto's computer.

"Don't be a baby."

"Why don't you try navigating the nasty places while I laugh at you, safe in the real world?" Noah challenged sourly, nursing his burned hand.

"Maybe one day. Thanks for your help. Would you like me to transfer you someplace where you can write your fanfiction?" Seto asked.

"If it isn't too much trouble. Just ask if you need help."

Seto obliged, found a decent CD, and got to work.

* * *

Several hours later Ame watched Seto type at high speed, sitting on the edge of the desk in his spirit form. Transparent silver eyes traced slowly over the elder Kaiba's features.

'_I'm going to miss him, whether he knows it or not,_' Ame thought sadly, as Seto reached for a steaming cup of coffee.

"Hey Seto!"

A sigh from Seto as he placed the cup on his desk.

"Yes, Noah?" the brunette asked, glancing at a corner of his laptop's screen.

"I've finished my fanfic!"

"Really. What's it about?" Seto didn't sound all that interested, but at least he was making the effort.

"It's a Star Wars fic. It's about a misunderstood boy whose personality gets trapped in a computer. Wanna read it?"

"It sounds like a Gary-Stu to me… Are you writing that, Noah?"

"Nope, it isn't me. And I'm not detecting any trace of a hacker."

Ame had jumped off the desk, and was leaning over Seto to type.

'That sounds rather like Callista.'

Ame waited for a few moments as Seto quickly unplugged the networking cable from his laptop, and turned the machine off, which effectively cut the Green-haired computer-dweller out of the conversation, before adding 'It's Ame.' on the SGC computer.

Seto raised an eyebrow, and looked around.

"I don't see you."

Ame finished getting into place, and hesitated.

'_Aw, the hell with it. Stop being such a coward, Amemait._'

And Ame took on solid form, sitting on Seto's lap.

"See me now, Seto Kaiba?" Ame batted his eyelashes up at the person so-named, while Seto glared downwards.

"Yes, I can see you. Now you can get off."

Ame sighed, but didn't get off. Instead, he shifted, and somehow ended up straddling Seto's waist.

"I'm afraid that I can't do that, Seto." He stared up into Seto's eyes and was rewarded with a faintly annoyed look, though the annoyance was slowly being replaced with curiosity and something that made Ame think that he wasn't going to make a complete and total fool of himself.

Seto's eyebrow twitched upwards. "And why is that?"

"Because there is something I need to tell you before I leave tomorrow. If I don't tell you before then Faizah's going to be an eternal pain in my ass." Ame took a deep breath and decided on the direct approach. "I love you."

Seto obviously had not been expecting a statement like that. Ame's voice was not what one would expect from the Tok'ra. It was serious, hinting at dark emotions that Seto would never have guessed lived within the fun-loving Tok'ra. He detected guilt, sorrow, and a multitude of other things that Seto realized was the true Ame.

_No_… he realized with a start. _This is Amemait_.

And Amemait had just said that he'd loved Seto. The brunette could only sit there stunned. Amemait was starting to look crestfallen and dropped his gaze.

"I'm sorry."

He started to get up when Seto's arms were suddenly around his waist, pinning him there. He looked up, startled, to see Seto looking at him with a hungry expression.

"No need to be sorry," Seto said firmly before his mouth descended upon Amemait's. The Tok'ra threw his arms around Seto's neck and decided that he rather liked what he was doing.

Seto's work lay forgotten as the brunette picked Amemait up and carried him over to the bed.

* * *

Elsewhere on the base, two nearly identical individuals choked simultaneously, one on a jelly bean and the other on his words. An instant later, both were grinning widely and Yami set up wards around Ame's soul room so neither Yami nor Yugi could hear Ame's very vocal thoughts.

* * *

Ryou found Daniel in the archaeologist's office on base. He knocked on the open doorframe politely. Daniel didn't even seem to notice.

Ryou took a few steps inside. "Daniel-san?" he asked tentatively.

Daniel blinked and looked up from the book that had previously captured his attention. "Huh? Oh, hey Ryou. Is there something you need?"

"Mou hitori no boku has wandered into your Dr. Frasier's office and is now being subjected to various tortures. At least, according to him. I think all Dr. Frasier's trying to do is figure out whether he has a pulse. I have nothing else to do, so I came by to see whether you need help."

"That would be great, thanks. I'm really behind on all of this. Um…" Daniel looked around a bit, then snagged a folder out of a precarious stack that somehow managed not to fall. "If you could translate some of this that would be great. They're pictures of a ruin from a planet that SG-4 recently visited and I've already identified it as being vaguely Egyptian, so you shouldn't have much of a problem."

Ryou walked forward and accepted the folder. Upon opening it he found several photos of a ruin. More specifically, he found photos of the writings on the ruin.

"Should I write out the translations or use a computer?" he asked, already scanning the texts as he blindly sought out somewhere to sit. Daniel got up and guided him to a chair, then located his spare laptop among the mess on the table.

"Use that. It doesn't support Japanese characters, so you'll have to translate it straight to English. Yugi tried to translate some tablets first into Japanese, then English, and it came out more demented than you can imagine.

"I don't know about that," Ryou noted wryly, tearing his eyes away form the photos long enough to familiarize himself with the keyboard and load up a word processor. "I know some pretty demented things, among them a Tomb Robber."

Daniel reclaimed his seat. "True."

"And you don't want to meet Malik's darker half. He's as evil as Anubis, if what Jack was telling me on the plane was accurate. He even sent me to the Shadow Realm because of Bakura. Not fun."

"Why you, if it was Bakura in the Shadow Game?"

"The game was a Duel, and the loser's body was swallowed by the Shadow Realm. It happened to be my body that Bakura and Malik were using at the time. Bakura and I ended up in the Shadow Realm. From what I heard, Malik took refuge in Anzu." Ryou started typing, never taking his eyes from the photos. "After Battle City, I stole the Ring back from Yugi. Yami got Bakura to stop taking control of me by threatening him with Ame's namesake, and since he figured out how to separate from me, it hasn't really been that bad. We've actually become friends, and now whenever Bakura takes control, it's usually after he asks me."

"It almost makes a Goa'uld seem benign," Daniel commented. "How did you stay sane through all that?"

"Half the time Bakura shoved me so far into my Soul Room I wasn't really aware of much. All I'd know is that I lost some time, but after a while it became so common I wouldn't even mention it and just go back to what I was doing." Ryou stopped typing and switched photos, then resumed his typing.

"Wow. You must be a strong person to withstand that."

Ryou shrugged. "If you say so. Where'd you get these photos again?" he asked. "If I didn't know any better I'd say this ruin was pure Egyptian."

"From another planet. Find anything interesting?"

"The temple belonged to a sect that worshipped Seth, apparently. Rather interesting. It says that they lost contact with their god but continued worship until another god came and wiped out the faithful. The others were taken off the planet. That's just on the first few photos. The others outline their practices."

"Wow. You may replace me one day. Can't have that." Daniel grinned and returned to what he'd been doing before Ryou walked in.

* * *

Yami left Isis' quarters and stretched. He was cramped from sitting on the bed for hours discussing what he knew of the Goa'uld and Tok'ra with the Egyptian and he was looking forward to the walk from his current position to the mess hall for dinner. He vaguely wondered if pizza was being served.

_Stupid question. Undoubtedly Ame's preferences have been made known to the chefs and they'll have pizza or Ame'll raise hell._

He finally got most of the kinks out and made his way to the elevator, ignoring the strange looks he was getting. When the elevator arrived, he was surprised to see Yugi and Jack also in there. Both carried large plastic bags of what appeared to be Jelly Beans.

"Hiya Yami!" Yugi grinned cheerfully as Yami boarded the elevator. "Off to dinner?"

"Yes. Though I don't need to eat, I figured you'd be there."

"I'm on my way there with Jack. We're the reigning poker champions on base."

"And you were all betting jelly beans, I presume."

"Yeah. I didn't think the kid has what it takes, but he surprised me. The only reason we stopped was for dinner," Jack said. "Even Jacob gave up after a few rounds."

Yami raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think the Tok'ra played poker."

The elevator arrived at the right floor just then, and they all got off and joined the steady stream of people heading for the Mess Hall. Among them were Ame, Ryou, Bakura, and the rest of SG-1. Seto was nowhere to be seen. Ame was looking happier than anyone had ever seen him. Most people took this as a bad sign and backed away from him slowly. Yami and Yugi, however, knew what he'd been up to and shared a grin. Ame, meanwhile, took advantage of his situation and ducked to the front of the line. He vanished into the mess hall with a victorious yell.

"I'll leave you two relatively alone. I haven't let Sam confuse me today." Jack munched on his jellybeans as he pushed through the crowd to where Sam was waiting patiently with Teal'c.

Yugi tapped the nearest person, an airman, on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but is it like this every night?"

"No, sir. Tonight the chef is serving his specialty. No one misses it if they can help it."

"Ah."

/Should we just ask Hammond-sama if we can eat out/

/That sounds like a very good idea, Yugi. Let's go./

Yami returned to his Soul Room as Yugi struggled against the current, finally emerging on the far side.

/If I ever get attacked by my fangirls, I hope it'll be nothing like that./

Yami chuckled. /Your fangirls would not even get close. You seem to have forgotten that we have magic on our side./

/True. So where's Hammond-sama now/

/In here, with me/ Ame said smugly. /I heard you guys and asked for you, and he said okay. Just make sure you have your driver's license. You can sign out a car from the first floor./

/Thanks, Ame/ Yugi said gratefully.

Yami emerged from his soul room and adopted his physical form again.

/Eh, no problem. Just keep me safe from Bakura and we're even. Enjoy your date, you two, and don't stay out past eleven./

Yugi rolled his eyes, though he was smiling. And blushing. /Yes, Mother./

"Wouldn't it be 'father'?" Yami asked idly as they boarded the elevator.

"Who cares?"

"True. Let's enjoy our date." Yami grinned at Yugi's blush. "What?"

"Nothing."

Yami's arm snaked around Yugi's waist almost of its own volition. "Then let's go."

* * *

Jacob pulled into the SGC's parking lot in time to see Yami and Yugi driving out of it. He blinked.

/Yugi drives/ he thought, surprised.

/Why so shocked? He's old enough for his license, according to American laws/ Selmak reminded him.

/Yeah, but he's short! How can he see the road/

/It was a small car. I'm sure he's managing. Now, are we going inside or not/

Jacob blinked. "Oh, yeah." /Sorry Selmak./

/I'll forgive you this time./

Jacob walked into the entryway and tossed his keys to the waiting airman. "At least we aren't still playing poker for jellybeans. That was inhuman torture."

/Especially since you lost every hand./

"I only played four hands!"

/You still lost. And stop talking out loud. You look like you're talking to yourself./

/Oops./

Jacob glanced around and, to his relief, saw no one. Whistling innocently, he made it to the elevator and punched the call button.

* * *

There's a nifty little button down there. Now, provided Ame hasn't stolen it, it'd be nice if you pressedit and left a few words.

Ah, to Set with the beating of the bush. Please review!


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Us, afraid?

Quatre: Hey all. Sorry this chapter's taken so long, but I have KH2 to blame... plus writer's block and attack of the plot bunnies. But you can thank Ginger Ninja and her KH fic "All the Roads We Have to Walk" for this update because it reminded me of how much I hate unfinished fics.

Not much plot in this chapter, but it does nearly resolve a lingering issue and the next chapter introduces the true plot. Huzzah! Now excuse me while I go ogle at Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. Denzel is a cutie and he looks like Sora. Hm... my next fic mayhaps?

* * *

Disclaimer: Seriously... do I REALLY have to repeat myself? I own NOTHING. Only my head. And my heart. Though I have a Heartless and a Nobody out there and it's rather disturbing...

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Us, afraid? Nah! …Well, maybe… ****

* * *

**

It was, for some strange reason, the most loosely monitored area in the entire SGC.

Every other room was filled with state-of-the-art security systems, ranging from the classic ion-beam security camera to the highly sensitive voice-pickup-and-recorder, to a few things that were probably invented in tribute to the great paranoia of the Cold War between the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R.

Being the top-secret, President-Pentagon-and-Sec.Def.'s eyes only facility that it was, there should be no room left uncovered in any way when it came to the security of the base.

So, why did the cameras in this room rarely work for two seconds together, with no backup system whatsoever in place?

Simple.

This was the supply room.

It wasn't a very defensible position (cleaning fluids don't provide protection against anything but the common amoeba), it wasn't strategically important, and, as the most complicated electrical items within fully two metres of the room were light bulbs, the beancounters upstairs had decided to skimp a little on security in there.

That aside… It was a _supply_ room. Everybody knows about the sort of thing that happens in one of _those_ sorts of rooms. The T.V. shows were full of it. It was like the ultimate office cliché.

So, needless to say, people avoided that room in general. Even Janitors knocked politely and waited a few moments before opening one of the many doors.

Daniel Jackson himself had once used the room to hide himself and one guest. Of course, there was nothing wrong with this. Under the circumstances (a potentially hostile alien takeover of the SGC), it had been a good idea to keep the guest out of it.

He hadn't thought to knock, but, then…

Nobody actually used such rooms for what television decreed that they did.

Well, almost nobody.

"Why here?"

"Because nobody ever comes in here, and the security isn't as great as it should be."

"Hn. Should I put this room on my list?"

"No!"

Ame looked up at Seto with wide eyes, mock shock etched onto his features.

"If you did that, then we wouldn't have a place around here to do this sort of thing."

Seto considered the statement carefully.

"Well, all we seem to be doing thus far is cuddling."

"Mm. It's nice though."

Seto rolled his eyes.

"What did you drag me down here for that couldn't wait until I woke up on my own?"

Ame smirked.

"I had to say goodbye, and this was the only place I could think of to do it properly."

Seto raised an eyebrow.

"We couldn't have done this in the room?"

"One camera failure around here can be forgiven if it's fixed quickly-"

"I thought I heard someone come in after you left."

"-But two in the same room isn't taken as co-incidence. That's either taken as a sign of invasion, or that I'm playing pranks, and since you remain prank-free, people would start to wonder."

"There is a third choice there, you know."

"Yes, and it's my personal favourite, but not in that room. Not again."

Ame's hands slipped under Seto's shirt, and the brunette shivered.

"This is the only room where camera failures are seen as the norm, and it's been known to take weeks for anybody to get down here to fix even one of them."

Seto stroked his fingers down Ame's back slowly, before his brain caught up to his ears.

"What do you mean 'say goodbye'?"

Ame leaned closer to Seto before answering.

"I mean, before I have to take a little visit to the Tok'ra base."

Seto relaxed slightly.

"Oh. Don't scare me like that. I thought… Never mind."

"Silly! You didn't think I'd be leaving you forever, did you? I'm just doing this now in case this takes a little longer than expected."

Seto nodded.

"…Would you miss me?" he said at last, as Ame leant his head against the CEO's chest.

"Huh?"

"If you did have to stay there forever, would you miss me?"

"Of course I would! And I'd make my displeasure at being separated from you so obvious that they'd send us back here out of sheer desperation."

Seto smiled, leaning down to plant a kiss on Ame's forehead.

"That's good to know."

Seto was about to let Ame know just how much he would miss the Tok'ra in turn, when Ame stiffened in his grip slightly, eyes glazing over as he heard something Seto couldn't. Before Seto could comment however, Ame was back to normal.

"Sorry love," he muttered, "Yugi's left his Duel Disk in his room, and they're wondering where I am."

Seto glanced at his watch, then swore under his breath.

"You going to be okay for time?"

"Yeah, but only if I leave now."

There was a kiss being pressed against Seto's lips, then the Tok'ra faded, passing though the floor as though it were as insubstantial as mist – or maybe that was the other way around?

Seto sighed faintly as he was left alone in the room.

Back to work, it seemed.

* * *

It wasn't long to go until 0730, which was when the mission back to the Tok'ra base had been authorized for, hence Ame's need to hurry. Jacob Carter had long been changed back into his Tok'ra clothes and was now just waiting for everyone else to get ready.

Yugi, surprisingly, was the next one into the room. Instead of his usual black and blue ensemble, he'd chosen a pair of tight sand-colored leather pants with belts of a darker shade arranged as they usually were. He also wore a cloth tank top of a lighter shade than the pants, and instead of his jacket/cape, he wore a long cloak that, had he been in Egypt, would have rendered him invisible among the sand dunes. He also sported wrist and armbands, and a pair of tan boots completed his outfit. The only thing out of place was the Millennium Puzzle. Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"You're determined to not wear the uniform, aren't you?" Jacob commented with a raised eyebrow.

Yugi grinned. "Hai. It's a game, and you know I never lose games."

"Oh dear. I'll just stay safely over here."

Yugi chuckled. "Where do they keep the desert gear?"

Jacob pointed to a locker. Yugi went over and pulled out a vest.

"So you compromise?" Jacob asked.

Yugi nodded. "Ame talked with Hammond-sama last night during dinner. We can wear what we want provided we can blend into whatever environment we end up going to and we wear a vest to carry a radio and some emergency supplies." He pulled the vest on under his cloak and Jacob was surprised to see that it fit.

"Let me guess. They had one made especially for you."

"They altered one to fit me, yes." Yugi looked around, then down at his arm. "I forgot my Duel Disk. Crap."

Jacob was saved from having to comment on this – to him rather strange – pronouncement by the arrival of the rest of SG-1. They all looked at Yugi's outfit critically. Yugi raised an eyebrow as if to say 'what?', thereby cutting off any remarks.

Ame stalked into the room, and sent Yugi a look, before tossing the Duel Disk at the teenager, who caught it easily.

"You know, you could have picked a better time to start missing that thing."

Leaving the rest of the room to guess at whatever he could have meant by that, Ame grinned at Jacob. "So are you Jacob or Selmak?"

"Jacob."

"Gotcha."

Yugi meanwhile took his deck from the Duel Disk and started looking through it. Ame saw this, rolled his eyes and vanished, presumably back into his Soul Room.

Jacob shrugged.

"And some of the council think _I'm_ weird," he said to the room at large.

Freya arrived shortly after that. She was directed to where her clothes had been stored and went to the small changing room that was adjacent to the locker room.

"So when should we get to the Gateroom?" Yugi asked.

"About now," Jack said, handing Yugi a radio and a Zat. Yugi hooked the Zat onto a handy belt loop and tucked the radio into its place on his vest. He then picked up his Duel Disk and put it on as he followed SG-1 and the Tok'ra out of the locker room. He got some odd looks from members of other SG teams but ignored them, long used to it by now.

It was already 0800 by the time they got into the gateroom. Hammond raised an eyebrow at Yugi's outfit but could not comment, as Yugi's clothes conformed to the dress code he and Ame had agreed on. "You are good to go, SG-1."

"And Tok'ra!" Ame added, taking control of their body for the briefest of moments before it was once again Yugi standing before them. Yugi rolled his eyes.

"And Tok'ra," Hammond said good-naturedly.

Even as this exchange was going on, the Stargate was dialing. It connected, and after the event horizon stabilized they all filed up the ramp. Yugi pulled his hood up over his spikes and turned to wave at Hammond before walking through the gate.

"Glad to see that the sandstorm is gone. Now let's head over to the transporter rings before it starts up again." Jacob looked up at the sky as if to look for storm clouds, then waved everyone on ahead. "Let's go."

Freya led them along, with SG-1 in a group a few paces behind her. Yugi was in the rear with Jacob. Despite their wariness, they reached the transporter rings without incident.

/That gets cooler each time/ Ame said as the rings retracted and they ventured into the Tok'ra tunnels.

Yugi rolled his eyes and checked his watch. "We meet with the Council in fifteen minutes. What should we do until then?"

"Waiting sounds like a good idea. You and Ame could also discuss what you're going to say to the Council," Jack said.

"We already discussed it last night. Then I altered my deck. Just in case."

"Can you summon monsters without the Duel Disk?" Jack asked him.

"Dunno. Never tried it. I'm sure we could, though. Bakura managed it." Yugi looked around. "Shouldn't we at least go to the general area with the council chamber?"

"That would be a wonderful idea. Shall we?" Jack motioned Sam ahead of him, then followed her. The rest of the group did the same.

"I'll go on ahead and tell the Council that you all are here," Jacob said. He sped up and soon left them behind.

/Are you nervous, Yugi/ Yami asked as they drew near the Council chamber.

/A little, yes, but not as bad as before big duels. I can handle it./

/All right, but I'll be ready to take over if you want me to./

Yugi smiled inwardly. /It's all right Yami. I'll be okay./

/He's the one who seems nervous if you ask me/ Ame commented innocently.

/And you aren't/ Yami asked him.

A pause.

/You got me/ Ame sighed. /Yeah, I'm nervous./

They arrived to find Jacob waiting for them. "You can go in," he said.

They did. Freya waited outside. Jacob went with them.

Yugi stopped slightly ahead of the others. They lined up behind him.

"It is good that you have returned to us, Dr. Mutou," the leader of the Council said. "I am Garshaw. I take it you have decided to join us?"

"No," Yugi said. "I will not allow the powers of the Millennium Puzzle to be used by any who are as deceitful as you. Ame does not wish to stay here. I would not have minded so much if you hadn't tried to manipulate me in this manner. Yami agrees with me."

Garshaw titled her head, curious. "And who is Yami?"

Yami appeared next to Yugi. He was dressed as Yugi was, though his wrist and armbands appeared to be made of gold and he was wearing a golden circlet sporting the same Eye as his Puzzle.

"I am Yami," he said.

The Council began whispering among itself. Finally Garshaw quieted them and asked, "How did you do that? Who are you?"

"I believe the second question has already been answered," Yami said. "As for the first, I adopted a false body through the magic of my Puzzle."

"We know who you claim to be," Garshaw said. "Who are you really?"

"I am Atemu, the former Pharaoh of Egypt," Yami answered. "My spirit was sealed within the Puzzle until the evil I fought against returned. Yugi released me by solving the Puzzle, and now I am simply Yami. I control the magic of the Shadow Realm, and the beasts within answer to me and the others who call them forth."

"I see. And is Ame there as well?"

Ame appeared on Yugi's other side. He was wearing Yugi's usual outfit, jacket and all, though he was actually wearing the jacket like it was supposed to be worn. "I'm here!" he said cheerfully. "I'd rather not be here, but let's not go into that right now. Hiya Garshaw! That host looks just like the one you used to have. Is she doing okay? Eating right? Not going out and getting her butt shot off?"

Yugi obligingly ducked so Yami could bop Ame on the head. Ame pouted. "What?" he whined. "I was just asking!"

"What trickery is this?" Garshaw asked incredulously. She looked between the three of them as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Not trickery," Yugi said with a gentle smile.

"This is true magic," Yami said.

"Yeah, not like what those fakes the Goa'uld use," Ame grinned. "Or the Asgard, though I have every respect for the technology I've heard about."

"This is only a taste of what you wanted to possess. Our magic can do much more than this," Yami told Garshaw. "If you had been honest, we would have considered using our magic to aid you."

"But we don't like being lied to," Yugi said. "We've been tricked too many times by people on our own planet who wished to use our magic for their own needs.

"And I'd really rather not stay here. Home is home and all, but there're just too many rules and you all know my tricks and such. Besides…" Ame looked away, suddenly serious. "I'm not quite ready to come back yet."

"We are willing to help you in your cause, but we will not be forced. To this end, we will remain on Earth whether you wish it or not," Yami said. He looked every bit the Pharaoh he used to be and Yugi, looking at him out of the corner of his eye, couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face.

"What he said," Ame added.

"So what will you decide?" Yugi asked the Council.

"Might I add something?" Jack asked. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise. "We know what you were gonna do to Yugi, and I must say that if you're still gonna do that you might as well kiss our alliance goodbye. Hammond's words, not mine."

"I must agree with his sentiment," Selmak said. "I've objected to this plan since you told me of it, and I'm surprised that they haven't yet broken ties with us."

"It was for the good of our race!" Garshaw defended. "We are slowly dying out and without some drastic action we will vanish forever and the Goa'uld will reign over this galaxy unopposed!"

"Um, hello? What about us?" Jack asked.

"Mostly unopposed," Garshaw corrected grudgingly.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, I understand that," Yugi said calmly. "But did you ever consider that by going through with this you will become what it is you fight against?"

Yugi's words seemed to strike a chord with the council, as the members started conversing in hushed whispers almost immediately. Some of them sported guilty looks, while others looked offended. After a few minutes of this, Garshaw raised her hand to silence the room.

"We will discuss our decision. Feel free to wander about." Garshaw and the other Council members filed out of the room. Yugi sighed.

"I hope we managed to convince them," he said. "I'd rather not have to fight my way out of here."

Yami wrapped him in a hug, causing him to blush. "It will be all right, aibou. I have faith that this will work out."

"You sound like Isis," Yugi noted. Yami chuckled.

"We'll just leave you two alone," Jack said.

"I'd like to find a scientist and see if I can wrangle some information out of him or her," Sam said. "With your permission, sir."

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll drag Teal'c to the surface to discuss… the weather."

"But it will not change," Teal'c pointed out. He let himself get dragged off anyway.

"I'll go see if I can score some food from the mess," Jacob said. He left.

"I'll… go bug Selmak. Later!" Ame bounced out of the room.

This left Yugi and Yami alone in the Council Chamber. Yugi sighed and leaned farther into Yami's embrace. "I'm worried," he murmured.

"You don't need to be. It will turn out all right. If not…" The Puzzle on Yami's chest flashed. "They will feel the true power of the Shadows."

* * *

Next time: The Tok'ra make their decision and Ame seeks sweet, sweet revenge. Then the true plot surfaces, and it's revealed that Ame's NOT a Gary Stu. In case anyone was wondering, of course.

It's been a lingering worry in my head. I usually go out of my way to avoid creating OCs for that reason.

What else happens next time? Wait and see! And, er, hopefully you won't have to wait five months.

The "next time on..." feature is entirely optional on my part. Will you get a preview? The world may never know.


	21. Chapter Twenty: Plot Progression, yay

Yay, it didn't take me another half a year to post this. Go me! Actually, its 0230 and I just randomly got hit by the urge to fic. Which is a good thing, mind you.

Gah, feel like rambling on into eternity! And I miss those GW references, but I might bring in FMA references now. FMA is awesome, btw. Perfect for a yaoi fangirl like me. Course, not much into the Al x Ed pairing... incest isn't that good with a suit of armor.

Er... sorry. Like I said XD Feel like rambling.

ANYways, I've started a forum for this fic (you can find the link to it in my profile) and it's feeling lonely. Besides, you can chat away and all that. And, since I'm getting a headache from lack of sleep (or is it too much sleep?) I'll stop here. Enjoy!

* * *

I own NOTHING, people! Well, except Ame. And there's some fluffiness in here... I, er, think. Need to reread my chapter XD

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: In which the plot progresses**

* * *

Ame walked out of Jacob's quarters on the Tok'ra base. He whistled a tune as he ambled down the corridor, pausing to scrutinize a few interesting faces as he went. He got odd looks for his trouble, but as that was the norm for him he didn't notice them. 

/I really missed this place/ he thought idly. /Blue's such a comforting color./ He sighed wistfully, then perked up. /Yugi, mind if I put up new wallpaper in your Soul Room/

/What for/ Yugi asked, bemused.

/Because my walls are stone, and so's Yami's . Yours aren't, so the wallpaper would stick. Please/ Ame begged.

/All right/ Yugi sighed, though there was a hint of amusement from his end.

"Thanks!" Ame chirped aloud, garnering still more strange looks, but these went mostly unnoticed as he turned down another unearthly blue tunnel and into a large cavern that served as a crossroads of sorts. There were more Tok'ra than one usually saw gathered here, clipboards in the hands of some as they conversed.

Ame navigated through the crowd with ease born in part from training and in part from being just plain short. He went unnoticed for the most part, though a few people shot him questioning looks as he passed. He caught snatches of conversation and filed them away for later use. He was inches from the exit when a person nearby started talking.

"Have you heard anything about those Eyes that Anubis was after?"

Ame froze, his breath catching in his chest. He turned to look at the speaker, praying that he was misunderstanding the statement .

"You mean there's more than one?" a man with a distinct Asian look asked, eyebrow raised.

"Aside from the Eye of Ra, yeah. So I take it you haven't heard anything?" the first man, an average Caucasian with short red hair and blue eyes asked.

"No, not recently. Maybe Amemait would know? I heard he's been reawakened," the Asian man suggested, his voice deepening.

"I would, but I can't find him. No one will tell me what his new host looks like," the redhead said, slightly miffed.

"What about Amemait?" a third voice asked. Ame and the other two Tok'ra turned to look at a woman with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and curious brown eyes.

"He might know something about those Eyes that Anubis is after," the Asian answered in his normal voice.

"Well, he's right over there," the woman said, pointing. Both Tok'ra looked to where she was indicating, only to find an empty spot, though the sound of running footsteps could be heard over the general conversation of the room. "Strange," the woman said, puzzled. "He was just right there."

* * *

Ame skidded to a stop outside the room Sam was in, and took a moment to compose himself. After all, it wouldn't do for the Tok'ra that Ame _knew_ were in the room with her to think that something was up. He'd managed to avoid been seen too much since he'd run out of that room, but there was no sense in taking too many chances. 

He glanced around, then poked his head into the room.

Major Samantha Carter, USAF, daughter of the Tok'ra Ambassador to Earth (or was that the other way around?) General Jacob Carter USAF (Rtd), was staring at the scientist in front of her with a sort of detached amazement.

The theory was simple, which was probably why nobody had ever thought of it before.

Well, no one among the Taur'i, that was.

She was about to start on a tirade of questions, when a hesitant voice spoke up behind her.

"Ano… Samantha-san? I'm sorry to disturb you, but might I please have a word?"

Yugi's voice, but Yami's formality of speech. Interesting.

"Sure, come on in," she said, not looking around.

"In private, if you would be so kind, Samantha-san."

Sam blinked, turning around to look at the one addressing her. Silver eyes stared back with an almost scary intensity.

'_Something must be up, if Ame's acting serious._'

Glancing at the other scientist, who nodded that he didn't mind, Sam followed the short Tok'ra back out of the room.

"What's wrong, Ame?"

Ame bit his lip, unsure of just how much to say. It wasn't that he felt any compulsion to not give out information, it was that he was more than aware of any ears that might happen to hear him give away that information. He settled on starting off with a question, then winging it.

"Anubis has one of the Eyes. Why didn't anybody mention this to me?" he hissed. Sam blinked.

"There's more than one? But I thought-"

"If you thought there was just the one, then I'm afraid that the council hasn't told you all that you need to know."

Sam wasn't too surprised by this, but she was by Ame's next statement.

"In this case, however, you're no worse off than the majority of my people. Some of them think there's only one. Most of them, really. The council knows otherwise, and so do a few of those who were on the right missions, but… It never became public knowledge. Too much of a risk, apparently."

Sam blinked again, almost pinching herself to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

'_So the council doesn't just hide information from its allies, but also from its own people, huh? That's interesting._'

"Why're you telling me this?"

"Because Anubis has one, and I'm not so much of an idiot as to let anyone go after him without knowing all of what those blasted things can do. Council secret or no, this goes beyond that."

Ame took a deep breath, steeling himself.

"And because Jolinar knew. She was on that mission with me, and she was just as outraged as I that those blockheads didn't warn the rest of our people. Even after all these millennia, they still haven't. And that scares me."

Ame hesitated, rubbed his wrists carefully, and Sam 'remembered' a memory that had never been hers in the first place.

_Hands rubbed wrists where chains had been. Crude, but effective restraints, showing that their captors had known about the strength possessed by both Goa'uld and Tok'ra. The host's brown eyes looked into her own, almost nervously. It was an act for their jailers, of course. The host had been a brilliant actress, but was more than content to keep a parasite in her body in exchange for broader horizons._

"_What're you going to do us?" the actress quavered, eyes wide. Ra turned to face the pair as they were pushed to their knees. The boy host's eyes showed no mercy. It was said that this host had been chosen because he had not run away from the bright lights with the rest of his people, a move that Jolinar never doubted to be his greatest regret._

"_For choosing to fight against your Lord Ra, I will show you the greatest weapon of all time, as it is put to use in destroying your people."_

_Faizah, definitely, from they way that the host's eyes widened in pure fear, then hardened with a blink. Amemait now, protecting the young host from the sight, from feeling the pain…_

_Yet Amemait closed brown eyes in sadness, the only sign of his own pain._

_Those people had taken his – her now, but the last one had been male – host in, looked after him, tended wounds that they'd seen heal to fast to be normal. They'd vowed to keep the old man's existence secret, they'd buried his body when Amemait had taken a new host. It had to be as bad for him, but Amemait would not want his host to see what would happen._

_Ra smirked, and Jolinar could feel the eyes of the various children scattered about the room boring into her. How would she react, they wondered. What would they do?_

_Fingernails, grown slightly too long, showing that the ruler of all Goa'uld did not require to do much for himself, scratched across Faizah's face, leaving angry red welts in their wake. Amemait turned with the blow, and was rewarded for this movement with a simple slap to the other side of his host's face._

"_You shall watch, and you shall see what happens when one defies a god!"_

_Jolinar turned back, staring out the shielded window as Ra retreated from the other Tok'ra, placed his hand over the control, and an entire world disintegrated before her eyes._

Sam stared at Ame.

"They're not usually that intense," she commented, as that was all she could think of to say.

"They're not usually aided by magic," Ame countered. "Samantha, you know what just one is capable of. Try several. I don't even know how many there are, but if Anubis gets them all then you can kiss Earth goodbye, along with any hope this galaxy has of ever living in peace again." He paused. "Wow, overdramatism rocks. But still, you get my point."

Sam just looked at him for a moment.

"I'm going to go talk to Yugi and Yami," Ame said finally. "Just think about what I said, okay?"

"I'll tell the Colonel," Sam said, all thoughts of what she'd been wanting to do forgotten as she fumbled for her radio. Ame vanished with a wave.

* * *

Yugi blinked as he felt Ame return to his soul room. /Welcome back./ 

/Wish it were under better circumstances/ Ame said grimly.

Yami looked at Yugi curiously. The two of them had found a quiet corner of the Tok'ra base to sit together and talk about various things. The few Tok'ra that passed by had to stop and look again, convinced that one of them was an illusion. Occasionally Yami's hand would find Yugi's and the two would stop talking altogether, just enjoying the other's presence. Now, though, Yami eyed Yugi intently.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked. He blinked, and it was Ame he was sitting next to now.

"Not here," the Tok'ra said sharply. He watched the passers-by in the corridor. "Wait until we're back on Earth, and I'll tell you everything. Promise. Only I don't want to repeat myself."

His radio chirped. "Yugi?"

Ame grabbed for it. "Ame here. What's up?"

"Freya just came and found us," Jack said. "And the weather DID change. Sandstorm. We're here for the night. Anyway, meet back up at the council chamber."

"Understood. See you then." Ame stood and offered a hand to Yami. "Shall we?"

Yami took the proffered hand. "We shall."

* * *

Jack was trying to hold some sort of conversation with Teal'c when the council walked back in, Garshaw leading them. She looked around. "Where is Amemait?" 

Sam was standing a few feet from Jack, and Daniel was on the other side of the room with Jacob. They all looked around.

"Here," Ame said, appearing out of thin air in the middle of the room. Everyone jumped. "Sorry, Yugi and Yami got occupied somewhere else. So, what's your decision?" He looked pointedly at Garshaw, his copy of the Millennium Puzzle glinting in the light.

Garshaw pursed her lips. "I'm afraid that you have given us little choice. We have decided that having a Tok'ra on Earth may be beneficial to both us and the people of the Taur'i. And... I would like to apologize. You were right in that, in our struggle to survive, we were becoming what we were fighting against. Therefore, we have decided to allow you to remain on Earth for the time being." Garshaw offered a small smile. "You may leave after the sandstorm passes." She turned to leave.

"Oh, I'm not finished with you guys," Ame said darkly. "Not until you tell everyone the truth about the Eyes of the Gods."

Garshaw's eyes narrowed. "So you have not forgotten."

Ame snorted. "Who could?"

"Those are not your concern, Amemait," Garshaw said, her voice warning against continuing. "They have been taken care of."

"Not as well as you might think, if Anubis has one of them." Ame glared at her. "At least tell us how many there are! Even that could help us keep them from Anubis."

Garshaw gave him a measured look. "The tablets that led to you also lead to them. That is all I can or will tell you. We will expect you to leave as soon as the storm passes." She turned and strode out of the room, the rest of the council close behind her. Ame stared after her with a strange look on his face, then turned to an empty part of the floor.

"Well, Yami?"

The spirit appeared in the previously empty part of the room. "She tells the truth. When Yugi and I were looking over the tablets, before we found you, they made mention of Eyes. We didn't think anything of it, however, because we didn't understand the context."

"Where's Yugi?" Jacob asked, looking around.

"He is in your room, under the guard of the Dark Magician. We felt that it was best in case the Tok'ra weren't inclined to letting us leave," Yami replied. "He knows what went on here, though."

"Well, we're stuck here for at least tonight," Ame said brightly. "I have a few things in mind that I should do, and it would be best if none of you knew about them." He whistled idly and vanished.

* * *

"Welcome back, SG-1," Hammond's voice greeted the group. Ame was the first back through the Gate, his sand-colored cloak flying behind him as he made a dash for the doors. He was gone before Jack had even stepped onto the ramp. Next was Sam, with Daniel a step behind her, and Teal'c brought up the rear. The gate shut off behind them. 

"Heya, General," Jack called cheerfully, pocketing his sunglasses. "Don't let Ame near the kitchens," he said offhandedly. "The entire Tok'ra base was treated to some of his food, and they're all laid over with bad cases of indigestion. Very bad cases. And a few of them had... interesting wardrobes this morning." Jack looked quite happy with that. The sight of the plain brown Tok'ra outfits covered in glitter, ribbons, and a few other things from the accessory stores in the malls was quite worth anything the Tok'ra could have done.

"Don't forget the Kuribohs, sir," Sam said. They had migrated down the ramp during this talk, and were now near the doors.

"I expect a full briefing later," Hammond said. "Dismissed."

They filed out, parting ways at the first intersection. Sam went to the elevator, pausing only long enough to hand her gear to Jack, while Daniel went to the briefing room to have a word with Hammond. Jack went to the locker room, both to drop off Sam's gear and to change into street clothes for a few hours away from the base. Teal'c vanished somewhere, and no one wanted to ask where.

Ame, meanwhile, had run for the elevator, in part to avoid whatever Hammond may have had to say, and also because he was eager to get to where Seto was. Yugi and Yami knew what he wanted to do and had gone deep into Yami's Soul Room, enough so that, while they weren't actually out of the body, Ame was as alone as he could manage to get.

Ame looked everywhere and eventually found Seto in the storage room, typing away happily on a different laptop. Noah was in the hands of a few techs and was happily ordering them around as they worked to fix the holes Seto had found in the security system, aside from one important hole that it was also okay to leave alone.

Seto looked up as Ame burst into the room without warning. Ame took one look around and flung himself at Seto. The CEO only had time to set his laptop aside before he had his arms full of a hyper Tok'ra.

"I'm back," Ame said, nuzzling into Seto's jacket contentedly. Seto put his arms around Ame and rested his chin on Ame's head.

"Welcome back," Seto replied. "So you're here for good?"

"After what I pulled, I doubt they'd want me back," Ame said with a grin. "The official word is, though, that the Tok'ra have me here to keep an eye on the Taur'i, so if anyone asks..."

"Understood."

* * *

While Ame was running around the SGC, Yugi was happily walking around Yami's soul room, the spirit in tow. He found what he wanted to easily, as he'd been there many times before, and Yami was following bemusedly. 

"Where are we going?" Yami asked after a while, impressed with how Yugi was navigating the labryinth confidently, not even hesitating at intersections.

"Someplace special to me," Yugi said, throwing a smile back over his shoulder. "It's where I'd go if I needed some time alone in my head. Don't worry, it's not much farther."

True to his word, Yugi stopped only a minute later at a door. Yami studied it, finding nothing out of the ordinary, but Yugi turned the knob reverently. He looked back at Yami for a moment, then opened the door.

Yami blinked.

The room was amazing, yet he could not remember a thing about it. It was like nothing in his memory at all, which was odd, because the labyrinth that was his soul room only held things that he knew.

Still, it did seem familiar, if only in that it was comforting. The only thing that looked out of place was the western-style bed.

"Yugi… what is this place?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," Yugi answered, leading his yami into the room.

"I have never seen such a place – or, if I ever have, I do not recall it." Yami explained, staring at the walls.

Yugi blinked, glancing around.

"That's odd. Why do you think it's here then? I mean, there's got to be some reason for it to be here, right?"

"I can honestly say that I have no idea. How did you find this place?"

Yugi paused.

"It was just after Duelist Kingdom. I was looking around this place, and I just… found this room." Yugi laughed. "Or maybe it found me. I'm still not sure how, but not matter which path I take, I can always find this place if I'm looking for it."

Yami stared.

"Your missing piece…" he whispered.

"Eh? Yami, you okay?" Yugi asked, waving a hand in front of the darker half's face. Yami caught it automatically, still staring.

"I've always thought your room was too small," Yami continued. "I suspect this is the Puzzle's way of compensating for the fact."

The grip on Yugi's wrist changed as Yami twined their fingers together.

"A piece of you, within my very soul…"

Yugi's eyes widened, as Yami kissed Yugi's trapped hand tenderly before drawing him into an embrace.

"Thank you for showing me," Yami whispered into Yugi's hair.

* * *

Daniel ran a hand through his already messy hair, scrutinizing the stone tablets that had started this whole adventure. Next to them was the laptop Yugi'd adopted, the translation the younger had started scrolling by itself searching for one key word. 

Eye.

Of course, the word popped up in various places, but not in the context that Daniel wanted and so he sent the search program off again and again, narrowing the parameters each time.

Of the eight tablets, only four had been translated. Yugi'd read them all, but he hadn't written down the translation and now Daniel was stuck with that work while the search program continued on.

The computer beeped again. Daniel sighed and turned to the screen, not even getting his hopes up. In fact, the mouse was already over the "search" button as he skimmed throught the translation.

_The pharaoh watches over the darkness, his Eyes the only ones to know the inner workings of the shadows. The darkness claim the souls of many, punishment for crimes untold and sacrifices to the Three who watch over the land and its faithful._

_The sun rising in the desert, casting its harsh eye on its people, judges the people and rewards the faithful with prosperity, while the wicked fall under its weight._

_The river winding its lonely course, feeding the earth and rewarding the faithful while the wicked fall to the weaknesses inherent to them._

_The earth, drinking from the river and providing shelter for the faithful even as it destroys the wicked with its ferocity._

_The pharaoh connects the three, protecting them within the Shadow Realm and standing watch against the False Ones who would enslave both the faithful and wicked with their evil._

_So they shall Watch, four united to protect the faithful while the wicked give way before them._

Daniel blinked. Reread the passage. Blinked again. Reached for the phone on his desk and punched in a number.

"Hammond."

"General, I think Yugi found the Eyes."

* * *

Next time: Bakura and Malik make another appearance! Gasp, so they AREN'T a plothole! And other plottish stuff happens, yay. 


	22. Chapter TwentyOne: Turning Tables

I'm so very sorry for the long wait everyone. I just got lazy after I finished the chapter. Sorry! It's also short, but please check my profile for a short sidefic to this, starring Seto and Ame.

I'll try not to take six months to update again... but I hope you enjoy this!

* * *

Stargate SG-1 belongs to someone else. Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman. There, I said it. None of these are mine.

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: Turning Tables**

* * *

It seemed like Ame had spent only a moment with Seto before the intercom blared to life, causing one Tok'ra to complain loudly and one CEO to shake his head at his partner. Ame wriggled out of Seto's embrace regretfully and set off for the elevator. 

/I hope I'm not interrupting anything/ Ame broadcast into Yami's soul room, not exactly sure at the moment where the two were. /We're needed in the briefing room, and I think that you're supposed to be present too./

Silence greeted Ame's announcement, but Yugi sent back a feeling of acknowledgement, while annoyance was the prevalent emotion on Yami's end. Ame wondered what he'd interrupted, but decided not to press the issue. Even if they did share a body and mind, there were some things better left private.

Well, relatively speaking of course.

Ame reached the elevator and swiped his ID card absently. To his surprise, the elevator opened immediately, revealing one Malik Ishtar and Ryou Bakura.

He'd completely forgotten that the two were on the base. And, judging by the looks on their faces, he could deduce two things. One, they were plotting something devious. Two, the white-haired boy was not innocent in the least.

Ame was itching to start asking them questions and maybe offer a little of his expertise, but Yami had dragged Yugi out of the labyrinth and the two were staring at him (mentally of course) expectantly.

So he just settled for slipping between the elevator doors as they closed and smiling up at Malik. "Hey there, miss me?" he asked, batting his eyelashes innocently. Malik grinned at him.

"Of course," Bakura answered dryly, and Ame's attention was drawn to Bakura. Or, more specifically, to the innocent spray can held casually in one pale hand.

Ame looked back and forth between the two and suddenly wished he'd waited for the next elevator.

* * *

After ten minutes had passed with no sign of Yugi or any of his roommates, Jack was all for sending out a search and possibly rescue team. The rescue part being for anyone that Ame had the misfortune of stumbling across. Hammond was quite ready to agree with his second in command after another ten minutes had passed, and his hand was on the phone five minutes later.

Ame chose that moment to wander in, grinning quite cheerfully in the face of the rest of the room's stares. His hair had gone from black, red, and silver to a striking amber color and now stuck out from his forehead in a pinwheel shape. It now looked like he was wearing a spiked frisbee. As if that weren't insult enough, his skin had taken on the orange tint of a bad sunless tanning lotion, complimenting his hair quite nicely.

The silence stretched out for ages as SG-1 and Isis Ishtar watched Ame take a seat as if nothing were out of the ordinary at all. There was no sign of Yami or Yugi, and they were presumably in their Soul Rooms watching the goings on.

After another few minutes, Ame's smile turned to a wry smirk. "Take a picture, folks. It'll last longer. If you're wondering, Bakura didn't take nicely to his silly string helmet and I'm stuck like this for another, oh, twenty three and a half hours. Now, didn't we have a meeting to attend to?"

His statement was met with snickers. Isis cleared her throat. "I believe that we were called here for a meeting?"

"Oh, right. Dr. Jackson, didn't you say you found the Eyes?"

"Yugi did," Daniel corrected. "In his translation of the tablets that we found before, there's one mention of eyes that seemed to stand out. They spoke of the eyes of the Pharaoh, Sun, River, and Earth. The Sun is obviously Ra, so that should be a reference to the Eye of Ra. Since the Translation mentioned the Shadow Realm, I consulted with Isis and she believes the other two mentioned are Osiris and Obelisk."

"Aren't those the Egyptian God Cards?" Sam asked.

"Right. Isis tells me that Yugi has all of them, he won them in Battle City. That's a tournament that was held a while back by KaibaCorp," Daniel informed them. "Since they're on the same tablets that apparently have a history of the Shadow Games, as observed by the Tok'ra, I think it's safe to assume that the Eyes are tied to the Egyptian Gods."

"What about the Pharaoh?" Yugi asked. He had assumed control of his body during Daniel's explanation and was scratching his head.

"I have an artifact in my exhibit known as the 'Eye of the pharaoh'. I believe it could be one of these Eyes you speak of," Isis spoke up. "I'll call Rishid and have him forward it right away."

Yugi shook his head. "Until we know what the Eyes can do, it might be safer to leave that eye where it is. We don't want to accidentally activate it and find out it's a weapon capable of turning Nevada into a crater."

"Anubis used the Eye of Ra to blow up Abydos," Jack pointed out.

Yugi blinked. "It's still safer there. What if Anubis found another set of tablets with the same info that we have?"

"He can't attack Earth," Sam said. "We have a treaty with the Asgard that prevents it."

"From what I've read," Yami said, switching with Yugi almost unnoticed, "if Anubis gets another Eye I doubt he'll pay any attention to that treaty. I agree with Yugi. Isis should keep it in the exhibit until and unless we find the other Eyes. That way, if Anubis does attack he's less likely to get hold of it."

After a moment of thought, the rest of the room nodded acceptance.

"So Daniel, did the translation provide any clues as to where the other two eyes would be?" Sam asked after a moment of silence.

Daniel shrugged and passed around a sheet of paper. "This is the translation from Yugi's computer. I might be reading a little too much into it, but the eye of Ra was on Abydos, a desert planet. Since Ra is the sun, we might have some luck if we went to planets with conditions described in the passage."

Jack frowned. "So what are we looking for, exactly?"

"If what I'm thinking is right," Daniel said thoughtfully, "then the Eye of Osiris is going to be on a planet whose temple is in a forest, while the Eye of Obelisk will be in or near a body of water. Most likely near."

"Not necessarily," Ame put in. All eyes turned to him, and he looked away and fidgeted. "My last Tok'ra mission was to steal the Eye of Ra and hide it someplace, but my mission failed and I was captured and tortured. The Tok'ra most likely got their hands on the other two eyes and hid them. For all we know, they could be in the Tok'ra base, but I didn't see them when I went looking them." He pouted.

"So they could pretty much be anywhere?" Daniel asked, sounding rather faint.

"I can give you a list of the planets that I know that the Tok'ra visited back then, but that's pretty much it," Ame shrugged.

Ame's eyes flashed. "Yugi and I will continue to translate the tablets and see if the Tok'ra provided clues as to where the other Eyes are. It is imperative that we find them first," Yami said. Nods of agreement went around the tables.

"Until then," Hammond put in, "Yugi, you, Ryou, and Malik have been enrolled in the local high school. Your first day of classes is this coming Monday, so I suggest you prepare yourself. Mr. Kaiba has seen fit to arrange lodging in town, so you are free to go there and get settled in."

Yugi nodded. Unlike the transition between Ame and Yami, there was no indication of a switch between dark and light.

"With that settled, is there anything else that needs to be brought up?" Hammond asked the assembled group. When he received no answer, he continued. "Very well then, dismissed. Dr. Jackson, get to work on that translation. Miss Ishtar, Yami, if you would be so kind as to assist the doctor? Thank you. Dismissed."

Daniel nodded and the assembled group dispersed.

* * *

Yami and Yugi spent the night in their room on base, while Ame, in control of the body, went off somewhere, most likely to sulk. The next morning, with Ryou, Malik, and Seto in tow, they went into the nearby town to look at the apartment that Seto was renting for them.

It was a three-bedroom apartment with one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen area. Seto had furnished it with functional furniture, but at least it all matched. There were no pictures on the walls, and the bookcase was empty. The bedrooms were all furnished the same, and the beds were all neatly done, waiting for occupants.

The three teenagers quickly claimed a room to themselves while Seto excused himself to return to the SGC. He and Noah needed to put the finishing touches on the SGC's security system. Ryou and Malik left shortly after, presumably to scope out the town (and its valuables). Yami, Yugi, and Ame stayed to check over the apartment for any listening devices and other traps.

They didn't talk much while they were working, only speaking up if they found such a device. Yami and Yugi didn't need to talk, and Ame seemed lost in his own thoughts. They were busy until late that afternoon, and were finishing up when Malik and Ryou returned with takeout.

"Pizza?" Ame asked as he bounced into the kitchen, where Ryou and Malik hadn't even set their packages down.

"You have a pizza to yourself," Ryou grinned, sliding the large thin box out from the bottom of the stack. Ame made a gleeful noise and bounded out into the living room with his prize.

"For me and Bakura there's some greasy fast food stuff," Ryou continued, pointing to a red and white paper bag on the table. "For you, Yugi, there's some fried rice and fried chicken from the local Chinese restaurant and the locals say that the restaurant isn't bad at all. For Yami, I have a chicken sandwich from the same fast food place as my stuff, but yours is grilled, with nothing on it so you can dress it how you want. And Malik couldn't wait and ate his on the way here. Did I miss anyone?" Ryou concluded as the food was handed out.

"Nope!" Yugi answered, fishing his rice out of the pile. His chicken was in a separate container underneath Yami's sandwich, and he handed the sandwich to Yami before retrieving his chicken and going in search of a plate. Seto had seen fit to stock the house with utensils as well, so there were enough glasses, plates, etc. for everyone. Yami looked through the refrigerator and discovered that Seto had also bought a few things that wouldn't go bad very easily. He eyed the ketchup distastefully and decided to leave his sandwich the way it was. Everyone migrated to the living room and found seats that could easily view the flatscreen television. Ame was watching an American cartoon called Danny Phantom and was yelling like a maniac.

Yugi and Yami curled up together in an armchair next to the wall, while Ryou and Bakura sat together on the couch. Malik got bored after a few minutes and excused himself to take a shower. Ame had commandeered the floor and was stretched out in front of the TV.

"Yugi, did Seto mention whether he was going to come back to the apartment today?" Ryou asked suddenly. "Or is he going to sleep on base?"

Yugi shook his head. "I think he has a hotel room in town. He said that there's a car downstairs for us that we can use, though."

"So I hotwired a car for nothing?" Bakura asked, annoyed. He received several eyerolls.

Ame stood and brushed off his clothes, then reached up to ensure that his hair had returned to the proper style, as Malik and Bakura's punishment had worn off shortly before the food had arrived. "I think I'll go take him some pizza," he said, pointing to the remaining two slices that had survived. "Talk to you all later!"

He grabbed the pizza box and vanished from sight. Ryou and Bakura shot Yami and Yugi strange looks, but Yami and Yugi plastered on innocent looks and said nothing.


	23. Chapter TwentyTwo: Average? Yeah Right!

So... yeah. Here's another chapter, whoohoo! Nothing more motivating than reading other people's fanfictions. So, everyone should thank Vathara's fic "Upon A Fiery Steed" for this chapter because it's why I wrote it :D

And much thanks to JK, of course, because she helped lots.

Not much else to say except "On with the fic!"

* * *

Warnings: Um... none, really. Le gasp!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

* * *

**Chapter 22: Just An Average Teen… not!**

* * *

Seto was still typing away, empty coffee mug in one hand, silently waving for a refill, while his right seemed to blur over the keyboard.

A silent hand took the mug away.

"Kid, go home."

Seto didn't take his eyes from the screen, but Jack knew he was safe from the deathglare only because the CEO was still typing.

CEO.

God, but didn't _that_ throw the Colonel for a loop.

_This kid's salary is worth more in a month than my house!_

Not the one by the pond, of course. You can't put a price on good memories, but still…

"You have bags under your eyes that are larger than a Pyramid ship's shadow. Time to go to bed."

Seto made snatching motions in the air with his free hand, and grabbed back the coffee mug.

"Either get me a refill, or go away and let me do my job, Colonel."

There was suddenly another presence in the room, and Jack whirled, inwardly cursing that he hadn't heard the door open.

Then blinked, and realized that it hadn't.

Ame was there, pizza box held above his head in one hand, and other hand resting on his hip, an annoyed expression on his face.

"You heard the colonel, Seto. Now, why don't you be a good boy, and follow orders."

Seto froze.

Jack took this as his cue to leave. Anything that was bad enough to make Ice-boy live up to his base-nickname was enough to make him go.

And the look in Ame's eyes was kinda creeping him out…

Much to Ryou's astonishment, both Yugi and Yami choked on their food at the exact same time. Seconds later, Yami's eyes gained the glazed look that he saw on Bakura's occasionally, usually when the dark spirit was spellcasting – or checking the validity of previous spells.

* * *

The next few days passed without incident. Yugi and Ryou spent their time exploring Colorado Springs and getting to know the area, while Yami worked with Isis at the SGC. Their task was to scour the tablets for any clues relating to the Eyes. Ame was often seen around Seto, and the rumor mill started almost immediately.

Monday morning rolled around almost unnoticed. Yugi got ready for his first day in an American school, Yami and Ame in their respective soul rooms.

/Nervous, Yugi/ Yami asked. He looked up from the hand of cards he was holding as Ame tried to sneak into his soul room. Ame realized Yami was looking and tried to look innocent, but failed horribly.

/A little bit,/ Yugi admitted. He finished gathering his supplies into a backpack and ventured out into the living room. Ryou was already ready and waiting for Yugi. Bakura was nowhere to be found, presumably in the Ring.

/It'll be okay,/ Ame assured. He settled next to Yami to watch what he was doing. Yami ignored his presence for the most part and continued to reorganize his deck. It never hurt to be prepared, after all.

The two of them departed together.

* * *

"Jack O'Neill? The principal wishes to see you."

Jack looked over at the teacher as she read out the note.

"What did I do to deserve that?"

"Not a clue, Jack, but you'd better get going."

Jack sighed and stood up.

"No need to tell me twice. I'm going."

The seventeen-year-old left the room.

_What's going on? I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything._

Not entirely true. There was still the matter of that small explosion in the boys' locker room during the previous summer. Apparently, somebody had left three bottles of homemade ginger beer in one of the lockers over the school holidays… and they had fermented some more… and subsequently exploded…

_Recently… Hang on. What's that car doing?_

That car that Jack had just seen in the window as he passed belonged to his original version.

Colonel Jack O'Neill of the United States Air Force.

_Hey! That's my car… Well, okay, not mine personally, but still mine… What's going on here?_

Chibi Jack's question was answered when he knocked on the door to the Principal's office.

"Come in."

Jack opened the door, and was greeted by the sight of SG1, the principal, and a short kid with spiky hair. Jack did a double take.

"…Is that who I think it is?"

The Colonel turned to the principal.

"Uh, could you, leave us for a bit? We'll call if we need anything."

"Sure thing Colonel. Are you sure he's not in trouble with you people?"

"Positive. Go on, we'll be fine."

The principal left the room.

"Hey kid, how ya been?"

"Fine."

"How's school?"

"I'm doing better than you did last time."

"Hey, you're me too, remember?"

"Right. So, like I said when I got in here, is that who I think it is?"

"Why? Who do you think I am?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi Motou. Tell me I'm right."

"You are correct. I was not aware that people in America knew of me."

"Are you kidding? Duel Monsters is the best game ever, and you're really famous."

"Jack?"

"Carter, what have I told you about calling be that? Remember, I only look like a kid. I've got the mind of your commanding officer in here, and don't you forget it."

Major Carter gulped.

"So, anyway, what can I do for you folks?"

"Yugi here needs a friend in this place. He's transferring to this school." Daniel provided.

"Okay, but how do you know about it? I mean, what do you care?"

"Well, you know how we just adore snakes and all," Jack – the original – supplied.

"How'd you manage that?" Jack – the duplicate – asked, raising his eyebrows at Yugi.

"I'm still not quite sure. I get a job at Cheyenne translating some old tablets, somehow get hooked into the loop, and end up with Ame," answered Yugi, deliberately not responding to the unintentional insult. Americans _would_ insist upon looking people in the eye throughout all facial movements.

"Right. Okay then. So, what do'ya want me to do?"

"Look out for him. We know that he can handle himself in a fight, but we don't want him showing off too much. If he gets hurt, Ame is likely to heal him, and that would cause a stir." Carter said, earning a glare from the clone, until she added "Sir."

"I can see your point. Got it."

"Good." Jack commented. Yugi gave a formal bow.

"Uh, Yugi's been put into nearly all of your classes, although instead of Spanish he's taking ESOL." Daniel said, producing a schedule.

"I don't really need it, but your school principal insisted."

"Hey, mini-me, I've been wondering for a while now. Why're you taking Latin?" Jack asked, his curiosity at the answer finally getting the better of him.

"I already know a lot of it, remember? The whole loop thing, and… hey, if I can get Latin, I can probably get back to the mountain."

"Makes sense. Good idea."

"Anyway, just show him around, keep him out of trouble," Daniel cut in. Both Jacks rolled their eyes.

"Sounds simple enough. See ya Danny, Carter… Er… Jack. Come on Yugi," Chibi Jack saluted casually, and sauntered out of the room. Yugi followed, stopping only to grab his schoolbag.

"So…" Yugi started.

"…So what?" Chibi Jack asked as the two walked down the hall.

"Um… where are we supposed to be now?"

"Here." Jack stopped in front of a door and opened it, sauntering back into history class. Yugi hesitated for a split second, then went in after the clone.

"Yo, teach. You got a new student."

The teacher blinked as Yugi bowed at her, then handed her a note, which she quickly read.

"Ah. Right. Very well. Class, you have a new student. Please try to make him feel at home. This is Yugi Motou. Mr Motou, why don't you say a few things about yourself?"

Yugi turned to face the class and blushed slightly. Ame and Yami were both asleep, so there was no chance of help from either of them.

"Hello. My name is Yugi, and I am from Japan. I hold a doctorate in Ancient Egyptian language, mythology, and culture. My favorite hobby is playing card games. That's… pretty much it, really. Any questions?"

One member of the class put his hand up tentatively. Yugi pointed at him.

"Um… are you… _the_ Yugi Motou?"

Yugi winced, doing his best not to blush.

"Yes, I am, actually."

The boy's jaw dropped. So did the jaws of many other members of the class.

"Are there any other questions? Only I am sure that your teacher would like to continue with this class."

"Mr Motou, if you would like to find a seat? I think I see one next to Jack." The teacher called out.

Yugi nodded, and made his way over to the seat.

* * *

Yugi left History class with a faint smile on his face.

The teacher left History class with a silent vow to herself that she would never again attempt to teach Ancient Egyptian Mythology.

Jack caught up to Yugi about five seconds after he'd pried himself away from a large group of – surprisingly enough, mainly female – adoring fans, on the pretence that he had to find his locker. The fact that this was true had no impact on this.

Jack snorted as they drew level with a locker, the number of which Yugi was reading on a piece of paper.

"So, what're you going to do in ESOL?"

"Probably the same things I did in English Class back home."

"Oh yeah? What was that?"

"Sleep through it."

Jack grinned.

"Fun. Kinda makes me wish I was taking it instead of Spanish."

"I wish I were taking Spanish. It would be more fun to learn a new language."

"Don't you know enough already?" the Chibi asked as Yugi opened his new locker and put a few things into it. Yugi stopped for a moment and thought about it.

"No. I've got a long time to learn more and more. I'd prefer to spend it learning languages. I like comparing the different words and their meanings, and learning about the similarities between different languages." Yugi glanced at Jack, then produced a couple of photos and stuck them onto the sides of his locker. "I wonder where Ryou went off to?"

"There's another one of you?" Jack asked, somewhat fearful.

"Not really. He's… a friend of mine. He came to America to help me get settled, and decided he wanted to stay, so he got into this school too. He's in a higher grade though, and he doesn't have the same… affliction, so the military just let him come to school like usual," Yugi explained casually, mindful of the listening ears. "I haven't seen him since we left the apartment this morning."

"No worries, we'll see him at lunch," Jack shrugged. "Now, off to the next class!"

* * *

Lunch was a welcome break in the middle of the day. Yugi had to endure Ame's boredom, echoed somewhat by Yami, but by now Yami was used to classes and knew how to keep himself occupied. Sometimes, he'd even pop out of the Puzzle in spirit form to aid Yugi in an assignment. Jack shot them a few looks, though of course he didn't know about Yami, whenever it looked like Yugi was talking to himself, but passed it off as him talking to Ame.

Yugi set his backpack on the ground under a table gratefully and looked towards the lunchline. "There's Ryou!"

Jack was in the process of putting his backpack down and craned his neck up to see. "Which one?" He scanned the line for an unfamiliar face and spotted a teen paying for his lunch and moving to join them. "The albino?"

"Not really, but yeah," Yugi nodded. He greeted Ryou as the teen joined them and sat down at the table. "How's your day been?" he wanted to know.

Ryou shrugged. "Fine, so far. Just the usual annoyances," he said, glancing down meaningfully.

Yugi suppressed a snort while Ame snickered quietly in the background. Yami was a wave of exasperation in the corner of their mind.

"Eh?" Jack wondered.

"Nothing, nothing," they said at once.

"If you say so. I'm going to get something to eat." Jack left the two Japanese teens alone and dove into the lunch line.

"If I were you I'd stay away from there," Ryou advised Yugi. "This is the only thing that looked edible, and there wasn't much left." He indicated his plate of spaghetti and vegetables.

Yugi's stomach growled. Ryou took pity and gave him his roll.

"So, how's Bakura been holding up?" Yugi asked, switching back to Japanese.

"He's bored out of his skull and eyeing the school's trophy case," Ryou replied in kind.

Yami stepped forward, and Yugi contented himself with lying back in the bed in his soul room and listening.

"Tell him that if he tries anything of the sort, he'll find himself in the Shadow Realm. Again," Yami warned, somewhat exasperated.

And now it was Bakura staring out at him, glaring for all he was worth. "I'd like to see you try, Pharaoh," he challenged in Egyptian.

"Whoah, whoah, I thought you two were friends," Jack interceded, eyeing the two dark spirits uncertainly. He held two plates of food in his hands but wisely stayed a safe distance away.

Bakura humphed and retreated, leaving Ryou to smile and wave off the incident. Ame took control and eyed Jack's hands hopefully.

"Hiya chibi," Ame said. "I'm hungry, is that pizza?"

"Nope," Jack answered, putting one of the plates down in front of the Tok'ra before sitting down himself. "I take it you're the visitor I've heard about?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yup! Name's Ame, nice to meet you," Ame introduced in the same low voice. "Now, what is this we have here?" he asked normally, poking the plate of meatloaf suspiciously.

"Mystery meat. Plug your nose before you eat it," Jack advised.

"Okay," was Ame's reply before he wolfed down the food.

* * *

The rest of the school day passed without incident. It turned out that Yugi and Ryou ended up in a band class together, since the rest of the electives were full, and they spent the entirety of the class learning the basics of their chosen instruments. Ryou had chosen a flute, while Yugi (at Ame's insistence) was eyeing a tuba uncertainly.

"Wonder if we can fit in that?" Ame asked from next to Yugi, in spirit form.

/Let's not find out/ Yami answered dryly. /Let's just choose a more reasonable instrument. How about a trumpet/

/How about drums?/ Ame asked hopefully.

/NO!/

Yugi gladly chose the trumpet. Ame pouted and returned to his soul room, while Yami amused himself by digging out an Egyptian instrument.

"Am I glad that's over," Yugi yawned. School had finally let out and he and Ryou were walking along the streets to their apartment to drop their books off before they headed off to the SGC to help Danny and Isis on their search.

Ryou shared his sentiments. "Couldn't we just have gotten the Air Force to home school us?" he lamented.

"Nope. People might start asking questions."

"Darn. Maybe I'll get Bakura to show me that nifty spitball trick he learned…"

Yugi whapped him on the shoulder.

They entered the apartment to find the phone ringing. Ame materialized and pounced on it, leaving Yugi and Ryou to head to their rooms.

"Oi! Yugi!" Ame yelled. "It's for you!"

Yugi could only imagine the wince from the person on the phone. He hurried into the living room to rescue the poor soul from Ame's chattering.

"Hello?" he ventured.

"Yugi, we're sending a car out for you right now. We think we've found where one of the Eyes are," Daniel's voice informed him, excitement evident in his voice.

"That's very good, we'll be ready when you get here," Yugi said and hung up the phone.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed! More soon... I hope. 


	24. Chapter 23: Explosions in the Dark

And we're back! Some shreds of plot in this chapter, but mostly silliness, but a more important fact is that we're BACK! SSR is NOT DEAD! Somebody throw in a CD and start dancing like it's 2008!

Not much for comments at the moment, so I'll just say, on with the fic!

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Beta's comments: SSR is like a volcano. Except instead of ash and pumice and lava and obsidian you get words. It can sleep for ages. But when it wakes up it's awesome. Although it probably won't make the sunsets prettier.

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Disclaimer: Gundam Wing, FMA, Stargate, nor YGO belong to us. We're just using them for our own amusement.

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Warnings: Rampant silliness, shonen-ai, etc etc. Twenty-three chapters and I still need to put these?

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**Chapter Twenty-Three: Explosions in the Dark**

Yugi, Yami, and Ame blinked up at the large projector screen in unison.

After a few moments of silence, the trio turned to SG-1 expectantly. "Okay… what're we looking at?" Ame asked blankly. "All I'm seeing are trees."

"This is where we believe the Tok'ra hid one of the eyes," Daniel explained to them, as well as SG-1, Isis Ishtar, and Seto Kaiba. Seto had walked with Yugi, shooting glares at anyone who dared to question his presence. Ryou was nowhere in sight.

"Ah. A place with a lot of trees. Got it," Ame deadpanned.

"I think Ame's starting to read my mind," Jack mock-pouted. "I was going to say that!"

Ame smirked triumphantly before turning back to Daniel, who had paused obligingly in his speech to allow for any other snarky comments. When none were forthcoming, he continued, waving at the screen as he spoke.

"What we did was cross-referenced what seemed to be key passages from the text on the tablets with descriptions of planets we've been to, and sending MALPs out to planets on the Abydos cartouche that we haven't been to," Daniel explained. "We got a UAV map of this planet, and near the Stargate are what appear to be ruins of a temple." He clicked a button on his remote, and the projector screen changed to a picture of the same trees, only from above.

Yami eyed the ruins interspersed among the trees and hummed thoughtfully. "It appears to be of the right type of temple," he mused. "Is there a mission scheduled to check it out?"

"We wanted to discuss that with you," Hammond said. All eyes in the room became focused on him. "I realize that you only just got into school, but it's imperative that we get to the Eyes before Anubis…"

"We're skipping school, then," Yugi shrugged. "I've done it before, it's no big deal."

"Yeah, school's boring," Ame complained, making a face. "I vote for the mission."

"If that's what you've decided," Hammond acquiesced a tad reluctantly.

"Even if we said you couldn't go you'd skip school and show up anyway, wouldn't you?" Jack asked accusingly.

"You bet!" Yugi and Ame chorused.

"It's an important cause. We can catch up on our studies later," Yami agreed.

"All right," Hammond sighed. "You're free to stay on base or return to your apartment, we'll tell you when we have the mission scheduled. SG-1 already has a mission or it'd already be scheduled," he added as an afterthought.

The trio looked at each other, sharing a silent conversation, before two out of the three broke out into wide grins, one of them bordering on manic. The other just sighed resignedly, leaving the rest of the room to wonder just what they had – or rather hadn't – witnessed.

"I'll head home," Yugi informed the military group. "I have homework to do, after all. I'll see if I can stop by afterwards, though."

"I will stay, to ensure Ame stays out of trouble," Yami shrugged.

"And I'm staying to make sure that Seto doesn't work too hard!" Ame chirped, earning himself a glare from the brunette so named. Daniel chuckled, masking it as a slight cough, while Jack just smirked. Isis sighed, Sam shook her head, and Hammond looked as if he was going to just not ask. "Oh, Jack, can we borrow your office? I wanna show Seto some of your anime… in English!"

Seto looked slightly apprehensive at that.

"Sure, whatever, just put them back in the place you found them," Jack agreed easily. Ame whooped and literally pounced Seto, earning him a yelp of surprise and tumbling them both to the floor. The rest of the room winced in sympathy.

"Dismissed," Hammond sighed. He could just see the mound of paperwork waiting for him on his desk through the handy window that separated his office from the conference room, and no doubt he'd have some more by the time morning came. Ancient Egyptian spirits, manic and maniac aliens… Sometimes he wondered when life had gone towards the left side of weird.

SG-1 stood as Isis nodded politely, while Seto found himself the captive of a very determined Tok'ra. Yugi grinned knowingly while Yami just sighed. As they made their separate ways out, Yugi stopped dead.

/Yami… do you know where Bakura is? /

Yami paused. /I don't think so…/

/And Malik? /

Yami blinked. "Oh," he said out loud.

The two of them headed off in search of one Ancient Egyptian tomb robber and one modern Egyptian troublemaker.

* * *

Jack blinked at the sight before him. "What's… happened here?"

Yami sighed, while Yugi couldn't –quite- help his snicker. Isis looked as patient as ever, given her brother's plight.

Malik and Bakura looked decidedly… cute. They were plastered to the wall by some unseen force, and they had both been somehow forced into the most sickeningly cute and fluffy pastel dresses any girl had been forced to during that one horrible Easter at the other family's and they had to look as "cute" as possible. Malik's hair had been curled and his face had been painted with a fetching variety of makeup. Bakura's hair had been straightened out of its usual demonic spikes and was now pulled up over his head, the ponytail cascading down his back, and his face had also been painted. They looked very good, to their horror, and to everyone else's amusement.

"Malik, you know better than to touch treasures that aren't yours," Isis admonished. "And Bakura, for your light's sake, I would have hoped you'd refrain."

"Nice work on the spell, Yami," Yugi grinned, looking over at his darker half. The spirit shrugged.

"Isis asked for my aid, and I admit it was enjoyable," Yami said. Yugi chuckled at that, enjoying the amusement echoing back from the dark spirit that the other was studiously NOT letting show.

"Care to clue me in? Only I'm the one who's gonna have to write up this report," Jack put in dryly, not bothering to hide his amusement.

"Malik and Bakura decided to see what Dr. Jackson had hidden in his office, and what they could make off with," Yami explained, daring to reach up and twirl a blond curl around his finger. Malik glared daggers at him, but, by virtue of the spell, couldn't speak. "Isis and I thought that they might try something, even after being warned against it, so I set a trap. And they, to their misfortune, have tripped it."

"Ah. So this was a security system. Gotcha." Jack looked up at the two trapped teens, snickered, and turned to go to his office to write his report.

Ryou seemed to appear from nowhere and looked imploringly at Yami. "Please let him down… He won't try anything else." He winced at something the others couldn't hear. "Plus he's ranting enough to put Wufei to shame."

"Ah yes. Everyone's favorite Gundam Pilot," Yugi said dryly. "Makes me want to watch that series again."

Yami rolled his eyes but obliged. Bakura and Malik stumbled a bit as the force holding them to the wall released suddenly, but the spell holding them silent remained. They self-consciously folded their arms over their chests and Glared. Yes, it was a Glare with a capital G.

"The spell will allow you to change in two hours," Yami informed them. "Until then, you will be unable to change your clothes or speak profanity. In other words, for the next two hours, you'll be forced to behave like a mother's favorite daughter." He smirked at them. "Enjoy."

Yugi snickered at the mutinous looks on their faces as they stomped off, Glaring at anyone who dared to look at them twice. He latched onto Yami's arm and looked up at the spirit imploringly.

"On second thought, I'll stay here tonight," he grinned. Yami looked down at him questioningly. "Someone's going to have to protect you from them!"

* * *

Jack opened his office door without bothering to knock, as his mind was on the recent happenings outside Daniel's office. He took two steps inside, blinked, then backtracked and checked the door to be sure that yes, he had the right one. Upon confirmation, he looked back in and found himself the subject of one deathglare and one slightly annoyed but amused smirk, from Seto Kaiba and Ame, respectively. The two of them had apparently been interrupted in the midst of something that had Jack's inner muse, for once, utterly speechless.

Seto sighed irritably from his position on the couch, his hair slightly mussed but otherwise composed. "Yes, colonel?" he asked politely.

Ame, sprawled as he was over Seto's lap, looked more amused than anything. His hair had, incredibly, fallen out of the star-shaped style that was the trademark of his host, and the black, red, and silver strands trailed down his back haphazardly.

Jack blinked. "Um… I thought you guys were watching anime."

"We are," Seto replied shortly. Jack turned – slowly – and saw that one of his more recent purchases, a series called Full Metal Alchemist, was indeed playing on the television. "Is there something you needed?"

"Uh… yeah. By the way, you might want to look out for Bakura and Malik," he informed them lightly, studiously ignoring the fact that he'd interrupted a teenager and a Tok'ra – both male – in something that he wasn't thinking about. Nope. Not at all. "Just needed some paperwork, and I'll be out of your hair and locking this door behind me and please just clean up anything and I'll see you later."

He grabbed the paperwork off his desk and fled as fast as humanly possible.

* * *

The next couple of days were slow torture for one hyper Tok'ra. In between school and having nothing else to do but watch Yugi do homework and Yami play with his light's hair, he thought he was going to go mad. The bad kind of mad that involved white jackets, not the good kind of mad, which he was most of the time.

Seto had, interestingly enough, found an excuse to return to his hotel, probably still embarrassed over what had happened the night when Bakura and Malik had discovered their feminine sides. Ame felt only slightly guilty for putting his grouchy CEO through that and vowed to go pester Mokuba on how to make it up to his brother, nevermind how he was going to get to Japan. Or, now that he thought about it, Noah would have some ideas, but he hadn't seen any sign of the digital teen ever since the other night when he'd gone off to terrorize some SGC scientists, which blew that idea out of the water.

"I need to get Yami to show me how to use this thing," he sighed to himself, poking the copy of the puzzle that came with his corporeal form. At the moment he'd contented himself with wandering around the base, a maddeningly cheerful look on his face that he found, with no light amusement, made people back up a few steps and take a good look to make sure he wasn't planning anything. Which wasn't to say he WASN'T. Oh no. He was just waiting for the right time.

He spotted Ryou chattering happily to Bakura, the dark spirit corporeal for the moment. There was no trace of the makeup or dress anywhere, presumably having been burnt to a crisp as soon as the spell ended, but Bakura's hair was still just a tad more restrained than normal. Which looked good on him, if you liked demons that would just as soon eat you than look at you.

Yes, Bakura was his kind of ancient spirit… if he could manage to stay on his good side. And at the moment, Ame was plotting something that Bakura might be interested in. Something involving several goodies he'd found in Jack's office and his host's darker half.

"Hey, Bakura!" Ame called out cheerfully, halting the white-haired boys in their tracks. Ryou looked over at Ame with a smile on his face, while Bakura just looked… annoyed. And he hadn't missed how the dark spirit's hand was still stubbornly twisted in his light's hair. He smirked knowingly but otherwise didn't comment. "Hey, Ryou, you might wanna make haste someplace else, that way you can claim innocence later."

"Not asking," Ryou declared. "I'm NOT asking!" he said again, as if he were trying to convince himself of that, and, with a silent apology to Bakura, freed his hair and fled.

Bakura crossed his arms and Glared at Ame. "Now what?"

"Well, I thought you and I might need something to amuse ourselves at school tomorrow," Ame said lightly, switching to Ancient Egyptian – only a little different from his native Goa'uld – easily. "And I have something you might like… Shall we go back to my host's room and negotiate like men?"

Bakura snorted. "You'd better have something worthwhile, or I'll be taking some of that hair for a little scheme of mine."

Ame smiled winningly. "Of course I do."

* * *

At school the next day, Yugi somehow found himself suspended upside down in the middle of the hallway, with the person he'd nicknamed Chibi Jack (clones, who knew?) frantically trying to get him down. He knew that it was a futile effort, and with Bakura having taken control of his light's body to laugh at him, he knew who the cause was.

"What happened?" Jack wanted to know, tugging at Yugi's school jacket again, only to have it slip off in his hands. Not prepared for that, he fell backwards with a yelp. Yugi's puzzle, amazingly, hadn't come off, and the teen grabbed it as soon as his jacket was lost, as if in fear of losing it.

"It's just a harmless prank," Yugi said wryly, looking up at his feet to see it glued to the ceiling by way of glitter, ribbons, and an assortment of other colorful things. Some of the glitter had drifted over him, resulting in an upside-down teen who sparkled. Some of the girls in school had already swooned at the picture he made, with Yami Glaring at them from his soul room. Yugi was HIS light, curse it!

Several teachers made their way onto the scene and just stared at the sight. Yugi smiled at them, even though he could feel the blood rushing to his head. He hoped Bakura would let him down soon, he was getting a headache. Yami appeared in spirit form and poked the mass covering Yugi's feet, muttering something in Ancient Egyptian. Suddenly, the force holding him released and he plummeted to the ground with a yelp, only Chibi Jack saving him from a trip to the infirmary and a lot of questions.

Jack groaned. "You're heavier than you look."

"Sorry," Yugi replied a tad sheepishly. His legs were still bound together, and he was sure to need a new pair of pants before he could continue his day, but he was otherwise unharmed. He climbed to his feet, using the now-apologetic Ryou, having regained control of his body, as leverage. Jack scrambled upright and looked the duo over for several minutes before grinning.

"No problem, just next time, try and share the love, huh?" He winked at Ryou, who blushed in embarrassment, and sauntered off to the nearest teacher, where he'd give his entirely truthful account of what happened.

* * *

When they arrived at the base after school that day, Yugi in a pair of pants borrowed from the lost and found but still covered in glitter, they found SG-1 wandering in from the gateroom, yawning hugely. They were dressed in their mission gear, which only meant one thing: they'd just gotten back from a mission, the same one they'd departed for the day after the briefing. Yugi wondered if all missions took that long, or if SG-1 was special.

/Woo hoo! / Ame cheered in Yugi's head, earning a wince from the teen. /Mission soon! /

/Yes, it will be a relief, / Yami agreed.

/Yeah, the sooner we can get the Eyes back, the better, / Yugi grinned. /Let's go see Hammond-sama and see when the mission is! /

As if on cue, the Tok'ra and the dark spirit appeared from thin air, Ame darting forward in a mad dash for Hammond's office, while Yami contented himself with wrapping his arm around his light, who blushed happily. They caught up to Ame easily, in time to save the General from him.

"I know what you're going to ask," Hammond said before one of the trio could speak. "The mission is in two days. SG-1's recent mission met with some of Anubis' troops. Apparently that planet was one that he'd thought held the Eye of Osiris. After they take a nap, you're free to sit in on the debriefing."

"We shall," Yami nodded. Yugi nodded as well, while Ame just sighed.

"Party pooper, that Anubis is. I was hoping to use Jack's office again…" Ame lamented.

"Ah yes, Jack mentioned something about that… He said, and I quote, 'Get a room that isn't MINE!'" Hammond looked more amused than anything. "If you and your partner wish to have privacy on base, I'll be happy to remove the security camera from your rooms. I'm not asking who it is, though! If I do, I'll have to tell the Pentagon, and they might not be so obliging…" He winced. "Actually, Kinsey would come down here with his pencil pushers and have you guys shipped out."

"Yes, Americans are well known for their intolerance," Yami mused. "We will keep our relationships hidden from those people."

Ame grinned. "I'll warn the other person you don't want to know about," he chirped with a wink. "I think they'll be glad for it, honestly, though I can't imagine why."

Hammond smiled. "Thanks for understanding. I've scheduled the debriefing for two hours from now."

* * *

Two hours later, the usual group was assembled in the conference room, with the various couples arranged in pairs around the table and the SGC personnel interspersed between them. Sam could have sworn that Ryou and Bakura were doing something to each other under the table, but she was studiously choosing to ignore that little fact. Seto was looking decidedly grumpy, while Ame seemed to be trying to charm him with little pieces of simple shadow magic that he didn't seem to have all that much of a control over. However, the sight of miniature flowers (even when they most of the time exploded, leaving the smell of burnt ash in the air) and various other things that sometimes did or didn't meet messy ends seemed to be slowly cheering the teenager up, wonder of wonders.

If there wasn't a betting pool started by now, Sam mused, then she'd be starting one. Immediately, starting with Jack.

Although Jack didn't seem interested in the two at the end of the table in the slightest. Rather, he was looking at Ryou and Bakura, a fact that the Tomb Robber hadn't missed out on.

"What are you looking at?" Bakura snapped, drawing the attention of the entire table to him.

"Oh nothing," Jack said easily, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes from the duo.

"I believe O'Neill is observing the fact that you have not removed your hand from Ryou's hair," Teal'c noted calmly.

Ryou turned an interesting shade of pink at that remark, while Bakura's face edged more on the red edge of the spectrum. "And what's wrong with that?" he demanded hotly.

"Oh, nothing," Jack said quickly. "It's just, you've been doing that a lot lately, and I've been wondering, well…"

"I believe you Americans have a saying," Bakura bit out. " 'Don't ask, don't tell.' Don't ask, or the telling will involve a practical demonstration."

Ryou eeped. "Bakura!"

The dark spirit snorted, bringing a strand of hair to his face pointedly. "I mean it. Any problems?"

"Oh, no," Jack answered a tad weakly. "I know that phrase very well. VERY well. Sorry to bother you."

Bakura growled, but it was a pleased sort of growl, his temper mollified enough to allow him to sit back with Ryou's hair firmly in his grip. Hammond chose that moment to enter the room, noting his second in command's meek demeanor and the amused looks of the rest of the table, before deciding to ignore it as another bit of the now-common weirdness and getting right down to business.

"What did you find?" Hammond inquired of his team, not wasting any time.

"Just a bunch of ruins, General," Jack replied, regaining his composure instantly. "We took pictures, and were all set to head back until some Jaffa decided to crash the party. We had to wait in the forest for a couple of days while they ransacked the place, but they didn't find us, until we thought they were gone. While we were dialing the gate we were ambushed by a patrol, but we managed to make it back, obviously. We overheard while we were there that Anubis thought that that planet had the eye of Osiris on it, so he's looking for the Eyes as well."

"Did you find anything interesting, Doctor Jackson?" Hammond asked the archaeologist.

"Just a few mentions of Osiris, but nothing indicating that his Eye was there. The planet was probably just the home of a cult that worshipped him," Daniel replied. "I'll examine the pictures at length after the meeting, but I don't think there's anything important there, really."

"All right," Hammond said. "Anyone else have any comments?"

"I'll assist Daniel," Yami spoke up.

"Same," Ame agreed. He was still toying around with a bit of shadow magic, trying to get it to form some complicated shape, but it imploded in his face, showering that end of the table with black smoke.

"Dismissed," Hammond managed to choke out, escaping the smoke quickly.

* * *

Ame poked one glossy photo, tracing the glyphs present and mouthing the words in Goa'uld. He was uncharacteristically serious, a fact that hadn't gone unnoticed by the other people in the room, but they would rather have him as serious and helpful than unhelpful in the least. Yami was working with Daniel, the two of them discussing varying topics and scribbling things in each other's notes occasionally, while Isis and Malik, who had dropped in uninvited, were on the other side of the room, typing out translations from the tablets. After all this time a good 80 of the tablets had been typed out, and with both Malik and Isis, and often Ryou as well, working together, it wouldn't take much longer to finish.

Jack poked his head in on this peaceful scene and was vaguely disappointed. With Ame there, he expected the sometimes humorless group of scholars to be a little more lively, but all the Tok'ra did was glance up at him before returning to his work. A bit put out, Jack nevertheless entered and walked over to where Daniel and Yami were.

"Hey," he greeted them, keeping his voice low unconsciously. He felt like he was in a library with a group of librarians ready to boot him at a moment's notice. "How's it going?"

"There's nothing from our last mission to help us on our search," Daniel sighed. "Me, Yami, and Ame have been working all evening and there's nothing there."

"You mean all night," Jack said in amusement. "It's morning."

Daniel and Yami both glanced at the wall clock and were vaguely surprised.

"Yugi didn't contact me," the dark spirit murmured. "He must have done his homework and gone to bed without wanting to disturb me." He smiled fondly.

"And I just didn't get tired," Daniel added, bemused.

"Well, our mission to the planet of the trees is tomorrow, so you all had better go get some food and rest," Jack grinned. "Yami, Yugi's already at school, I saw him and Ryou leave already, so you're free to either go back there or crash here." He looked over at Ame and added, "That applies to you too, you know. I happen to know that Seto's still on base."

Ame looked up at him, still mouthing a couple of words, and blinked a couple of times. "What?"

"Seto's still on base."

Ame whooped, dropping the photo on the table and vanishing from sight. Jack grinned.

"Figured that would help. Anyway, what have you two found?" he asked, directing the question at the Ishtar siblings.

"A probable description of the home of the Eye of Osiris," Isis replied. "I'll forward it to the General."

"I've just found a couple of references to a woman named Faizah," Malik shrugged, prodding the tablet. "Apparently, she was supposed to hide the Eyes, but failed and was captured by Ra, who reclaimed his Eye. But I don't know if Faizah was the name of the human or her symbiote, because the tablets mention a 'fallen hero', but Faizah's mentioned separately. This is in the part referencing Ame though, so who knows. Could just be a nickname for him."

"That's interesting," Yami mused, going over to stand near Malik and scan his translation, as well as the original tablet.

/There's a picture of a woman on the nightstand in his soul room/ Yugi mused without warning, causing the dark spirit to start. /I wonder if that's her? /

/And how would you know? / Yami asked, bemused.

/I've gone in there a couple of times to see him, that's all. He comes into our soul rooms, what's wrong with going into his? /

/Shouldn't you be paying attention to class? / Yami teased. His light's amusement echoed down their bond.

/How could I, with the racket from your end? / Yugi teased right back.

"Yami?" Jack asked, waving his hand in front of the dark spirit's face. Yami automatically pushed the hand away and blinked.

"Yugi says that Ame has a picture of a woman on his nightstand in his soul room," Yami reported.

They didn't notice that Ame had returned, and so were surprised when he spoke. "Faizah was my previous host," he said quietly. "She died."

There was an awkward silence for all of two minutes before Ame's smile reasserted itself. "But what are we all doing in here being gloomy? Let's go! There's some awesome pizza waiting in the cafeteria!" He latched onto Yami's arm and yanked the dark spirit out of the room, ignoring the inarticulate protests ("I don't EAT pizza!" "Ame, you're shorter than me, stop dragging me!") that were directed at him. Jack followed, amused, and the rest of the scholar group took his lead, glad of a break and a chance to fill their rumbling bellies.

* * *

After the unexpected pizza party, in which half of the off-duty SGC members were subject to the… well, it wasn't the strangest thing they'd seen, but their senior officer getting into a brownie war with a couple of identical Japanese teens, two visiting Egyptians, and half of SG-1 certainly ranked high on their "weird crap-o-meter", everyone, even those not involved, were left cleaning up the mess. The party had come to a crashing end when Ame tried his hand at making a shadow that he really had no control over, resulting in a rather spectacular explosion and dusting everyone in the vicinity with shiny dark glitter.

Ame was still pouting, sweeping with a large broom in the middle of the room, with Yami on a stepladder getting some pizza remains off the ceiling.

"It's not like I meant to do that," the Tok'ra grumbled, getting a nice pile of glitter, pepperoni, and broken plates. "It's just that shadows are weird!" He grabbed one of those nifty dustpans with the long handles that meant he didn't have to bend over and started shoveling the pile into it.

"The Shadows don't like you, it seems," Yami corrected him. "Everything you try ends up in pieces. I doubt even if Yugi and I tried to teach you, we'd avoid the instance entirely. Therefore," and with this statement he pointed his washrag at Ame, his best threatening glare on his face, "please do not try anymore. It's more harm than good."

"Since when has that stopped me?" Ame grunted rebelliously. Yami threw the washrag at him, smearing the Tok'ra with soapy pizza remains. "EW EW EW EW EW! All right, all right! I won't try Shadow Magic anymore! Can you at least show me how to work the Duel Disk? YOU can summon monsters, but I, apparently, can't. Bit of a disadvantage, isn't it?"

Yami retrieved his washrag and offered Ame a clean one, which the Tok'ra promptly used to scrub his face practically raw. "We'll see. If you must learn, get Seto to teach you."

On the other side of the room, Isis and Malik were eying the exchange.

"How long were you going to let Ame blow things up before you told him the false gods couldn't use magic?" Malik asked conversationally, on his hands and knees with a brush and a bucket. This was an area of floor Ame had already swept, so he didn't have that hard of a time… except in the place where someone had the bright idea of shooting a poor green pepper slice.

"Not for very much longer. It's surprising that it took him that long to try," Isis murmured. She was cleaning off the nearest table, which was close enough to where, if they kept their voices down, they could talk in relative privacy. Jack shot them strange looks but continued his low conversation with Daniel. "I knew that Yami would stop him eventually."

"Not before we were stuck doing this," Malik grumbled.


End file.
